The Croatian government has authorised the director of the Fran Mihaljevic Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Dr Alemka Markotic, to sign an agreement on the implementation of the framework agreement for the procurement of the drug Veklury (remdesivir) for the treatment of Covid-19 patients requiring supplemental oxygen.

The decision was made in a conference call on Tuesday. The money has been earmarked under the financial plan of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO), and the Ministry of Health, the HZZO and the Hospital for Infectious Diseases will be responsible for the implementation of the agreement.

The framework agreement for the procurement of Veklury (remdesivir) was signed on October 7 by the research-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences and the European Commission on behalf of the EU member states.