Deal with US drug company raises controversy in Egypt over use of anti-coronavirus treatment
Egypt’s Eva Pharma reached a deal with Gilead Sciences to locally manufacture the antiviral treatment Remdesivir for the treatment of coronavirus patients and distribute it in 127 countries.
CAIRO — Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced June 19 that the local production of Remdesivir, the antiviral treatment for the coronavirus, will start at the end of this month.
The announcement came after Egyptian drugmaker Eva Pharma announced June 14 that it had reached a deal with the American biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc., to become the licensed manufacturer of the US company’s Remdesivir. Eva Pharma will distribute the product in 127 countries, including Egypt.
Remdesivir, however, has yet to be officially approved by the Egyptian Ministry of Health as a treatment for the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Humans are infected with MERS-CoV through direct or indirect contact with dromedaries.
The Eva Pharma-Gilead Sciences deal generated mixed reactions in Egypt. “The local production of drugs for the treatment of MERS-CoV would significantly contribute to solving the crisis of lack of drugs to fight against the pandemic,” a source from the Ministry of Health told Al-Monitor.
