American officials have bought up all of the remdesivir available for July and 90% of stocks for August and September.
The US has effectively secured the world’s supply of one of only two drugs proven to help treat coronavirus.
Remdesivir, which has previously been used to fight Ebola but has now been found to reduce recovery times among Covid-19 patients, is exclusively manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences.
This means remdesivir will not be available for use on patients in the UK and Europe until October, Dr Andrew Hill, a senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University, told Sky News.
He said: “This deal that’s been struck by America means that people with COVID-19 in the UK can’t get access to these treatments that would get them out of hospital quickly and might improve their chances of survival.
UK patients took part in the clinical trials that showed that the drug worked, Dr Hill said. “A lot of drugs haven’t worked, so I think the people in Britain deserve something in return from the United States,” he said.
