The European Commission announced on Tuesday 19 July that the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) had signed a joint procurement framework contract for the supply of the antiviral treatment Veklury, developed by the firm Gilead.
Veklury contains the active substance remdesivir, a viral RNA polymerase inhibitor. The framework agreement provides for the possibility for the 22 States that have chosen to participate in this agreement to purchase up to 2,250,000 Veklury treatments. This is the second framework contract for Veklury. The first was announced on 8 October 2020 and ended in April 2022.
The second framework contract was concluded under the Joint Procurement Agreement for the procurement of countermeasures against various types of trans-border health threats (C-2014/2258) signed by 36 States. It was under this agreement that framework contracts were signed with Hoffmann-La Roche and GlaxoSmithKline Ltd. for the joint procurement of monoclonal antibodies.
This framework contract contributes to the European Medicines Strategy, which complements the EU’s vaccine strategy within the Union for health.
The effectiveness of this drug has been the subject of controversy. The World Health Organization (WHO) had initially expressed its disapproval of this antiviral before updating its recommendations on 21 April on the basis of additional data.
WHO now recommends Veklury for patients with severe to moderate forms of Covid-19 who are at high risk of hospitalisation.
In the EU, Veklury has been authorised, on the basis of recommendations from the European Medicines Agency, for adults and adolescents aged 12 years and over and weighing at least 40kg, suffering from pneumonia and requiring oxygen, as well as for adults not requiring oxygen but at risk of developing a severe form of Covid-19. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)