European Commission signs deal for virus drug

The European Commission says it had bought enough remdesivir, sold by Gilead Sciences as Veklury, to treat about 30,000 patients with serious coronavirus illness for member countries and the United Kingdom. This month, the U.S. announced it had signed a deal with Gilead to buy nearly all of the company's production of the drug through September.

The European Commission says it signed a 63 million euro (USD 72 million) deal to secure thousands of doses of remdesavir, the only licensed experimental drug to treat people with severe COVID-19. The European Commission says it had bought enough remdesivir, sold by Gilead Sciences as Veklury, to treat about 30,000 patients with serious coronavirus illness for member countries and the United Kingdom.

This month, the U.S. announced it had signed a deal with Gilead to buy nearly all of the company's production of the drug through September. Numerous public health experts slammed the agreement, calling the U.S. move selfish and warned other countries could lose out.