The EU has signed a contract to buy remdesivir from drugmaker Gilead | Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images
The purchase will provide doses for 30,000 patients.
The European Commission signed a contract with U.S. drugmaker Gilead for remdesivir, an antiviral drug shown to be effective in treating cases of COVID-19, providing enough doses for 30,000 patients, according to a press release published Wednesday.
Starting in August, the medicine will be available to both EU members as well as the U.K., and will “help to cover the current needs over the next few months,” the Commission said.
The deal is worth €63 million and will be financed through the Emergency Support Instrument.
The Commission is working on further deals to cover needs from October on, it added.
“The Commission is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to secure access to safe and efficient treatments,” Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in the release.
In early July, remdesivir became the first drug authorized to treat COVID-19 in the EU. The announcement comes amid worries that Gilead has sold most of its current stock of the drug to the U.S.
