U.S. Government Secures Nearly Entire Global Supply of Remdesivir for Three Months

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Foreign media outlet pharmaphorum.com recently reported that the U.S. government has reached a procurement agreement with Gilead Sciences to buy out nearly all supplies of remdesivir for the next three months. This means that, for at least the next three months, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other countries will be unable to purchase remdesivir, potentially facing the awkward situation of having virtually “no drug available.”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar stated in a press release that U.S. President Trump had reached a “tremendous” agreement with Gilead Sciences, securing the majority of the global supply of remdesivir to ensure Americans have access to the first approved treatment for COVID-19.

According to reports, the Trump administration has purchased over 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir for U.S. hospitals, sufficient to last through the end of September. These 500,000 treatment courses are equivalent to Gilead’s entire production volume in July (approximately 94,200 courses) and 90% of its total production in August and September. In August and September, Gilead will supply 174,900 and 232,800 treatment courses to the U.S. government, respectively.

U.S. hospitals will obtain these drugs from the wholesaler AmerisourceBergen and will pay no more than the wholesale price recently announced by Gilead Sciences for private insurers: $520 per dose, totaling $3,200 for a full course of treatment (six doses over five days).

In late April, after clinical trial results first demonstrated the efficacy of remdesivir against COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocated the 1.5 million doses donated by Gilead Sciences during the early stages of the pandemic. HHS stated that it would continue to distribute the drug to states and territories based on the burden of COVID-19 cases in hospitals. The distribution of purchased remdesivir will be streamlined, with shipments delivered directly to hospitals rather than being routed through state health departments for subsequent delivery.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic, with cumulative confirmed cases exceeding 10.8 million and deaths surpassing 510,000. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that has been granted emergency use authorization in multiple countries for the treatment of severe cases.

In May this year, Gilead Sciences entered into non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with five generic drug manufacturers in India and Pakistan to supply generic remdesivir to 127 countries worldwide, covering nearly all low-income and lower-middle-income countries. However, due to patents held by Gilead, these generic versions of remdesivir cannot be sold in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other markets.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration pursued an “America First” policy in securing remdesivir. The U.S. government’s move to buy out the future supply of remdesivir, announced on Twitter, sparked strong opposition from individuals in other countries and regions. Dr. Andrew Hill, a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool in the UK, stated, “There must be equality among nations. UK patients participated in the clinical trials that demonstrated the efficacy of remdesivir; in return, the UK should have access to the drug.”

However, some experts have pointed out that the non-patented steroid drug dexamethasone may be a cheaper and more effective alternative. Results from the UK's large-scale RECOVERY randomized controlled trial showed that, compared to standard care, low-dose dexamethasone reduced mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients by 35%, an effect not observed in other clinical trials published to date.

Reference source: US government buys most of world’s supply of COVID-19 drug remdesivir