EC secures licensed drug for EU, UK virus patients

The European Commission said Wednesday it has signed a 63 million euro ($72 million) deal to secure thousands of doses of Remdesivir, the only licensed experimental drug to treat people with COVID-19.

The Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant said it had bought enough Remdesivir, sold by the company Gilead Sciences as Veklury, to treat about 30,000 patients with serious coronavirus symptoms in European Union member countries and the UK.

During a news briefing, the European Commission also reacted to a new U.N. refugee agency report on migrants who braved long and often deadly journeys to Libya with the eventual aim of crossing the Mediterranean to start a new life in Europe.

The report found that at least 1,750 people died on journeys to Libya from both east and west Africa in 2018 and 2019, making it one of the deadliest routes in the world for migrants and refugees.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the bloc was working with the Libyan authorities to close migrant detention centers and to tackle the issue of migrants trying to reach Europe.

But he said the first step was to establish a ceasefire in Libya.

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