Gilead's remdesivir gets conditional EU clearance

Gilead Sciences just nabbed another huge potential customer for its drug remdesivir. The European Commission said Friday it had granted its conditional approval for the use of the antiviral drug in severe COVID-19 patients.

That makes it the region's first authorized therapy to treat the virus. The U.S. has already cleared it for emergency use. Gilead said Japan, Taiwan, India, Singapore and the UAE have also approved it as a COVID-19 therapy. Remdesivir is in high demand because it helped shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial.

Administered intravenously, the drug is generally being used on patients sick enough to require hospitalization.

Gilead has allocated nearly all of its supply to the U.S over the next three months. The Commission said it's in talks with Gilead to get doses for the 27 European Union countries.