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US secures three-month stock of key COVID-19 drug, Remdesivir, leaving none for UK, EU
The United States government has bought up virtually all the stock for the next three months of one of the two drugs proven to work against COVID-19, Remdesivir, leaving none for the United Kingdom, Europe, or most of the rest of the world.
President Donald Trump’s administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US, a country that still grapples with a frightening surge in the pandemic cases.
The US currently has 2, 573, 393 confirmed cases and 126, 573 deaths.
Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat COVID-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease.
The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up.
READ ALSO: US says Remdesivir trial on Covid-19 patients ‘very optimistic’
The US Department of Health Services has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90 percent of August and September.
The country’s Health and Services Secretary, Alex Azar, commended the president for the initiative.
He said: “President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorised therapeutic for COVID-19.
“To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs Remdesivir can get it. The Trump administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for COVID-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”
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