Cost of remdesivir/Veklury contract with Gilead Sciences
30.7.2020
Question for written answer E-004458/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Marc Botenga (GUE/NGL)
On 29 July, the Commission communicated that it had signed a contract with pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to secure treatment doses of Veklury, the brand name for the antiviral drug remdesivir and the first medicine authorised at EU level for the treatment of COVID-19. The contract will be worth EUR 63 million and will ensure the treatment of roughly 30 000 patients. This amounts to around EUR 2 100 per patient treated. Remdesivir is not a new treatment and was until recently offered for free to US hospitals. Marketing authorisation in the EU was granted with less complete data than is normally expected. Estimates show the real production cost of remdesivir to be less than a dollar a day, or less than five euro for a five-day course of treatment.
- 1.Can the Commission explain how, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, it justifies the abyss between the estimated production cost and the acquisition cost?
- 2.At the start of negotiations, what did the Commission consider to be a reasonable price per treatment dose of Veklury/remdesivir?
- 3.Given that the price per treatment fixed in the contract corresponds approximately to the price previously and unilaterally announced by Gilead Sciences, what concessions did the Commission obtain during negotiations with Gilead?