Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Europe’s Joint Procurement Agreement, is included in plans to procure Remdesivir, an antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences which may be effective for COVID-19 treatment, the Ministry of Civil Affairs told N1 on Tuesday.

The Agreement, which Bosnia joined in April, allows the country to participate in the EU procurement mechanism that secures “more equitable access to specific medical countermeasures and improved security of supply, together with more balanced prices” for member states.

Since the demand for Remdesivir is currently twice as high as possible production, the European Commission, ie the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), has applied the principle from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control according to which each country will receive the medication based on its weekly hospitalisation rate, the ministry told N1.

The European Commission informed Bosnia on October 9 that the first 1,794 doses of Remdesivir were approved for the country, it said, explaining that the process of signing a contract with the company ‘Gilead Sciences’ is ongoing and that this is the main condition for Bosnia to receive it.

The medication will be paid from the budgets of Bosnia’s two semi-autonomous entities, the Federation (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS), and the country’s Brcko District. The transportation, storage and distribution costs will be covered by the state Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The head of the Sarajevo University Clinical Center, Dr. Sebija Izetbegovic, told N1 that the institution has requested 350 doses of Remdesivir so far.