This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
Published on July 3, 2020, the European Commission granted conditional clearance to COVID-19 drug remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences Inc, following an accelerated review process.
The European Medicines Agency began a 'rolling review' of remdesivir at the end of April, reviewing data as it became available on a rolling basis while development was still ongoing.
Remdesivir is in high demand after a clinical trial showed it helped shorten hospital recovery times for COVID-19 patients.
However, securing doses of remdesivir for the 27 European Union countries may prove difficult, as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has secured all of Gilead's projected production for July and 90% of that for August and September.
Remdesivir is generally used on patients sick enough to require hospitalisation, as it is given intravenously over at least a five-day period.
Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Marine Strauss and Jane Merriman
