EU Promises to Authorize 3 New Drugs to Treat COVID by October

The European Union said Thursday that it will set up a portfolio of 10 potential new COVID-19 treatments, with the goal of authorizing three new drugs to treat the virus by October. The antiviral medication remdesivir is the only drug authorized across Europe for treating coronavirus patients. On Thursday, the European Commission urged the 27 nations in the EU to join forces to help deploy additional medicinal treatments across the continent. "Vaccinations save lives, but they cannot yet eradicate COVID-19. We need a strong push on treatments to limit the need for hospitalization, speed up recovery times and reduce mortality," Stella Kyriakides, the EU's Health and Food Safety commissioner, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. The Commission said it will invest $108 million in studies and clinical trials, along with $48 million to support manufacturing and access for new COVID-19 drugs and treatments. For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

The Commission said vaccines alone will not eradicate coronavirus overnight and efficient drugs and treatment plans will be required to treat patients in hospitals or at home, including those affected by long-term symptoms of the disease. Joint procurements can be launched with the agreement of member states, with a minimum of five EU countries required to start a procedure, In addition to the three drugs it plans to authorize in October, the executive branch said two more treatments could get approved by the end of the year. As part of its vaccine strategy, the Commission acted as an investor to provide funding to pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines, speed up production capacities and research. The European Commission has secured up to 2.6 billion doses of COVID-19 shots and is in negotiations with drug makers for extra doses.

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But some EU nations have criticized the coordinated approach, blaming the EU for the slow initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccine shots across the region of 450 million people amid a contract dispute with AstraZeneca and production delays at other vaccine makers. Vaccinations have since sped up and one-quarter of all EU residents have now received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She said the bloc has secured enough doses to vaccinate 70% of all adults in the EU by the end of July. Newsweek, in partnership with NewsGuard, is dedicated to providing accurate and verifiable vaccine and health information. With NewsGuard's HealthGuard browser extension, users can verify if a website is a trustworthy source of health information. Visit the Newsweek VaxFacts website to learn more and to download the HealthGuard browser extension.