Developers of the Russian vaccine against the coronavirus Sputnik V have demanded an apology from the head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Christa Wirtumer-Hohe for her words about the drug, according to Sputnik’s official Twitter account.

Vaccine makers did not like Virtumer-Hohe’s words that the prospect of emergency approval of the drug in Austria was comparable to Russian roulette. “We demand a public apology from Krista Wirtumer-Hohe of the EMA for her negative comments about the EU states directly approving Sputnik V. Her comments raise serious questions about possible political interference in the ongoing EMA review process,” the statement reads. It stresses that the agency has not made similar statements about any other COVID-19 drug.

As a reminder, on March 4, the EMA started the sequential review process for the registration dossier of Sputnik V.