Coronavirus: EU Closes $74-Million Deal With Gilead To Acquire Anti-Viral Drug Remdesivir

On Wednesday, an executive from the European Union confirmed that it had closed a deal with U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences to buy $74 Million Worth of COVID-19 medicine, Remdesivir.

According to a report, the said purchase aims to address the immediate needs of European patients with the severe form of the novel coronavirus disease and that the E.U. plans to make another set of purchases in the future.

Remdesivir, also sold under the brand name Veklury, is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication administered via injection into the vein. It was developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and is by far, the only anti-viral drug in Europe considered to be effective in treating patients who are experiencing the acute symptoms of COVID-19.

After Gilead completed its human trials in March, it became the most promising treatment of the disease in the next month. Due to this, nearly all of the 500,000 Remdesivir supplies it can produce until September has been bought by the United States in June.

Reportedly, the deal cost the EU Commission a total of $74 million to secure enough doses of the anti-viral for about 30,000 people severely infected with COVID-19. Each patient will then need a total of six doses to complete the full course of the treatment.

In terms of pricing, the EU Commission appeared to have arranged a fair enough deal as the prices paid per patient will have been consistent with previously announced rates. But, most patients in the U.S. are still paying for the drug at a higher rate since the drug has been priced higher for wealthier nations.

A spokesman for the EU Commission said that the price per dose of the anti-viral, as stipulated in the EU Commission's contract with Gilead, is at $405 per dose. He also detailed that the price could be different later in the year as the current price took into account the medicine's low supply.

The Commission acknowledges that there is a huge need for more anti-viral medicines and said that the newly-closed deal will only be addressing "immediate needs" and that they are already looking for other avenues on how to acquire more doses after the said batch runs out.

Unlike the horrors faced by most European countries in March and April due to the unwarranted outbreak of the coronavirus, recent numbers have shown that the region has already gone beyond the peak of the first wave of the pandemic and as such, restrictions have been lifted in the past weeks.

But, as a new wave of the contagion looms, the government has once again imposed travel restrictions to ensure that further cases of local transmissions are avoided.