South Korea to start talks on COVID-19 drug remdesivir purchases in August

South Korea has started distributing stocks of the COVID-19 treatment remdesivir that have been donated by Gilead Sciences Inc and plans to begin talks to purchase more supplies in August, its disease control agency said on Wednesday. It is the first country to disclose a timeline for talks with Gilead. The drugmaker said this week it has priced remdesivir at $390 per vial in developed countries and agreed to allocate nearly all of its supply of the drug to the United States over the next three months.