Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – EU Commission secures a 3-year agreement with Gilead for 2.25 million Veklury vials, enhancing EU pandemic preparedness.
The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has inscribed on behalf of 13 nations a joint procurement framework agreement with the pharmaceutical company Gilead, for the supply of 2,250,000 Veklury (Remdesivir) vials. Â
How does HERA improve pandemic preparedness across the EU?
HERA is tasked with ensuring that the EU and Member States are willing to act in the face of cross-border health menaces, and its mandate covers both the strengthening of preparedness in advance of prospective emergencies and the enactment of a swift and efficient response once a crisis hits. HERA was launched as a direct consequence of the lessons realised from the initial administration of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure a solid Union reaction to serious cross-border health threats and secure prepared availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures.
Who benefits from the joint procurement framework agreement?
According to the EU Commission, this antiviral treatment can be used to minister COVID-19 in adults and adolescent hospitalized patients with pneumonia needing supplemental oxygen or to treat adults who are at an expanded risk of moving to severe COVID-19. The agreement will run for a maximum of 3 years. It is the third of its type, following the end of the second contract in January 2024.Â
Joint procurement is an EU-level instrument that allows the 37 countries that marked the Joint Procurement Agreement to jointly procure medical countermeasures as an option or complement to procurement at the national level, on a voluntary and flexible ground. This mechanism assists in EU-level preparedness for public health concerns or pandemics. In line with its directive on preparedness, HERA persists in working closely with the participating governments to identify and execute preferences for joint procurement.Â
