The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Pfizer Inc. an accelerated approval for its meningitis B vaccine Trumenba last week, but it wasn’t fast enough for Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn).
Paulsen wrote a guest commentary in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune back in July stating that not approving a meningitis B vaccine could lead to more deaths on college campuses, where the largest outbreaks were reported.
On Friday, he called the approval of the vaccine “an important step toward giving Americans the ability to protect themselves from a ruthless bacteria that has taken lives as recently as two weeks ago.”
But he questioned why it took so long.
“While this news is certainly welcome, the question still remains why Americans must wait longer than others in Europe, Canada and Australia for life-saving drugs,” Paulsen said. “I’m committed to working with leadership at the FDA to refine its processes and eliminate unnecessary delays so that our citizens won’t continue to be the last to benefit from the outstanding medical innovation we have in the U.S.”