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Gilead Sciences’ coronavirus-fighting drug will be in the hands of doctors and patients as soon as this week, the biotech company’s CEO said Sunday.
“We intend to obtain [remdesivir] to patients in the first part of next week, starting to work with the government that will determine which cities are most vulnerable and where are the patients who need this medicine, “said Gilead Sciences President and CEO Daniel O’Day, to “CBS” of the NATION. “
“We have donated all of the supply that we have within our supply chain and we did so because we acknowledge and acknowledge human suffering, human need here, and we want to make sure that nothing stands in the way of this reaching patients.” O’Day added.
The deadly coronavirus has caused unprecedented financial and social disruption in the US. USA And all over the world. Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir has been a source of hope for the more than 1.1 million Americans diagnosed with the rapidly expanding disease, as well as for market participants hoping for a quick reopening of the economy.
Gilead released preliminary results of its clinical trial on its antiviral drug remdesivir last week, showing that at least 50% of COVID-19 patients treated with a five-day dose of the drug improved. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases then released a study that showed that Covid-19 patients who took remdesivir generally recovered after 11 days, four days faster than those who didn’t take the drug.
After these successful trials, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the drug to treat Covid-19. That means the drug hasn’t undergone the same review as FDA-approved treatments, but doctors will be able to administer remdesivir to hospitalized patients with the disease. The entire drug supply will go to the government for allocation throughout the country.
“What we will do is provide that donation to the US government. And they will determine, based on things like ICU beds, where the course of the epidemic is in the United States, they will start sending tens of thousands of courses of treatment earlier this week and be adjusting that as the epidemic changes and evolves in different parts, in different cities in the United States, “O’Day added.
Gilead expects to produce more than 140,000 rounds of its 10-day treatment regimen by the end of May, and anticipates that it can complete 1 million rounds by the end of this year.
Shares of Gilead Sciences are up nearly 25% this year.
