Trump is scooping up the world ’s remdesivir. It’s a sign of things to come | Devi Sridhar

The case of the Covid-19 drug shows how national interests will continue to define the allocation of research productsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDonald Trump has calledCovid-19 a hoax, encouraged his followers to takehydroxychloroquine and threatened to cut all ties between the US and theWorld Health Organization. He has predicted that coronavirus will disappear one day, likea miracle, organised indoor rallies with no masks during the height of the pandemic and encouraged public health officials toslow down testing, because carrying out tests results in a larger number of confirmed cases. He has praised scientists for developing anHIV/Aids vaccine (which doesn ’t exist), been accused ofstealing20 ventilators from Barbados andtaking face masks from Germany and France.In this wild west moment in international relations, Trump boasted this week that the US had bought the world ’sentire supply of remdesivir, the antiviral drug produced by the US biotechnology company Gilead. Remdesivir isone of the few proven medications for treating Covid-19 patients. Though low- and middle-income countries can still produce their own generic versions of the drug, European and other high-income countries are not able to buy remdesivir or produce it for three months. Fortunately the UK and Germany havestockpiled enough of the drug to treat all the patients who need it.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - July 4, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Devi Sridhar Tags: Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases World news Medical research US politics Donald Trump Microbiology Science Source Type: news