EU signs joint procurement deal for Eli Lilly COVID-19 treatment

BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission has
signed a joint procurement contract with U.S. drugmaker Eli
Lilly and Co for the supply of a monoclonal antibody
treatment for COVID-19, the EU executive arm said in a statement
on Tuesday.

The treatment is under review by the European Medicines
Agency, it said, and 18 EU countries have signed up to the joint
procurement for the purchase of enough to treat up to 220,000
patients.

The deal is part of a portfolio of five promising
therapeutics announced by the Commission under the EU's COVID-19
Therapeutics Strategy in June. It also includes treatments from
GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology Inc,
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Celltrion HealthCare
Co.

"We need to continue our work to prevent illness with
vaccines and at the same time ensure that we can treat it with
therapeutics," EU Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides
said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Bill Berkrot)