British experts slam US for hoarding remdesivir

Ohid Yaqub, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex called it “disappointing news” in a statement. “It so clearly signals an unwillingness to cooperate with other countries and the chilling effect this has on international agreements about intellectual property rights,” Yaqub said.

Some British experts have slammed the US decision to snap up nearly the entire global supply of remdesivir, the only drug licensed so far to treat COVID-19. Ohid Yaqub, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex called it "disappointing news" in a statement.

"It so clearly signals an unwillingness to cooperate with other countries and the chilling effect this has on international agreements about intellectual property rights," Yaqub said. The U.S. government announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump had struck "an amazing deal" to buy the remdesivir drug for Americans, made by Gilead.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Trump has secured 500,000 treatments of the drug through September, representing 100 per cent of Gilead's July production capacity and 90 per cent of its capacity in August and September. In earlier stages of the pandemic, the U.S. refused to export pre-ordered masks to other countries, including Canada.