BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany has only a few hundred doses of COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir, health minister Jens Spahn told European Union lawmakers on Monday, saying he was working to ensure the drug could be produced in Europe.
Remdesivir, produced by U.S. company Gilead Sciences Inc, is the only drug that has been granted a conditional marketing authorization by the EU for its use in COVID-19 patients.
“We do not have a huge inventory now, (it’s) a few hundred doses that we have,” Spahn said at a video-conference hearing organized by the European Parliament.
His comments came in reply to questions from EU lawmakers about Germany’s will to help other EU countries in the fight against the new coronavirus.
Last week Spahn said Germany had sufficient reserves of remdesivir to treat the limited number of COVID-19 patients the country currently has.
Concerns over the availability of the drug increased after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said last week it had secured nearly all supplies of remdesivir over the next three months.
Spahn said he was working to ensure the drug could be produced in Europe, to make sure it could be available for more patients if needed.
“We expect from an international company like Gilead that you cannot just wish for access to the EU market and high prices for other products. I also expect supplies to Europe and into the European Union,” he told lawmakers.
Spahn added he had discussed the matter with the U.S. health secretary and with Gilead.
Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio and Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by William Maclean
