⁍ Remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with COVID-19.

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⁍ The EU’s executive Commission announced its largest contract to date with Gilead for the supply of 500,000 courses of the antiviral drug at a price of 2,070 euro per treatment.

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⁍ The contract does not oblige countries to buy remdesivir, although it ties them to the agreed price.

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– Last week, the European Union signed a $1.1 billion contract with Gilead Sciences for six months’ supply of remdesivir, an antiviral drug used to treat people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On Friday, the World Health Organization released the results of a major trial that showed remdesivir had little or no effect on mortality or length of hospital stays in patients with COPD, Reuters reports. The EU “needs to present the reasons behind the rush to conclude the latest contract with Gilead and move to review it in light of the Solidarity Trial findings,” said Yannis Natsis, who represents patients’ organizations on the board of the European Medicines Agency, the EU’s drug regulator. The EU didn’t comment on whether it should renegotiate the price it paid for remdesivir, which it said was the standard price for wealthy nations. “As time is of the essence—we are in a situation of a public health emergency—we have to not only invest up-front in vaccine development but also in access to therapeutics,” said a spokesman for the European Commission, which didn’t comment on whether the EU was aware of the results before it signed the contract with Gilead.