Germany Wants to Purchase Additional COVID-19 Treatments

Germany's health minister Jens Spahn defended his decision to purchase additional supplies of Vekurly (remdesivir) for treating patients with COVID-19, saying Gilead's antiviral drug was useful especially early in the course of the disease, reported Reuters on November 3, 2020. Veklury is an investigational nucleotide analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity. 

Previously, Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced on October 22, 2020, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the antiviral drug Veklury® for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kilograms (about 88 pounds) for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.