US buys up almost entire world supply of remdesivir
WASHINGTON: 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.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) has announced it has bought up more than 500,000 doses of the drug.
The figure equates to Gilead’s entire production for July, as well as 90% of its production in both August and September.
The US decision to stockpile the drug means there will likely be little supply in the rest of the world for several months.
HSS secretary Alex Azar said President Donald Trump had struck an “amazing deal”.
“To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it.
“The Trump Administration is doing everything in our power to learn more about life-saving therapeutics for Covid-19 and secure access to these options for the American people.”
Gilead has been criticised in recent days for its decision to charge US$2,340 (RM10,000) for a typical remdesivir treatment course for people covered by government health programmes in the US and other developed countries.
In 127 poor or middle-income countries, the company is allowing generic makers to supply the drug; two countries are doing that for around US$600 per treatment course.
Despite its ability to shorten the recovery times of some patients, remdesivir has not been found to significantly improve an individual’s chances of surviving Covid-19.
Peter Maybarduk, a lawyer at consumer group Public Citizen, called the pricing “an outrage”.
“Remdesivir should be in the public domain” because the drug received at least US$70 million in public funding towards its development,” he said.
“The price puts to rest any notion that drug companies will ‘do the right thing’ because it is a pandemic,” Dr Peter Bach, a health policy expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, said.
“The price might have been fine if the company had demonstrated that the treatment saved lives.
“It didn’t.” – The Independent