EU Secures COVID-19 Treatment Drug Candidates from Swiss Roche and German Merck

Roche Roactemra and Merck Leveep Supply Agreement Signed
US Remdesivir 3-Month Supply Race for Early Market Capture

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The European Union (EU) Commission is reported to have secured candidate drugs for the treatment of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche and German pharmaceutical company Merck. This move is interpreted as the EU stepping up to secure drugs after the United States reportedly purchased the entire three-month production of remdesivir from Gilead Sciences.

According to foreign media including The New York Times (NYT) on the 8th (local time), the EU Commission signed supply contracts with Roche for the rheumatoid arthritis treatment 'RoActemra' and with Merck for the multiple sclerosis treatment 'Rebif.' Through this contract, the 27 EU member states can receive these drugs if desired.

Some foreign media report that the specific contract details have not been disclosed, and the contract is said to have been made following requests from some EU member states to the EU Commission since May for the supply of RoActemra and Rebif. RoActemra has been used on COVID-19 patients in China, and Roche is currently conducting efficacy trials on 330 patients. Both RoActemra and Rebif are drugs that inhibit proteins causing inflammatory responses and are known as treatments that prevent cytokine storms, a side effect caused by excessive immune cell proliferation.

The reason the EU Commission signed supply contracts for candidate drugs whose efficacy has not yet been definitively proven is analyzed to be due to concerns over the U.S. preemption. Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a purchase contract with Gilead for remdesivir sufficient for 500,000 people. This accounts for all of Gilead’s production from July to September, a three-month period. Consequently, concerns over the supply of remdesivir are rising globally, including in the EU. The EU Commission is negotiating with Gilead to stabilize the supply of remdesivir and is also reportedly negotiating with Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi to secure vaccines.