Shortage of Gilead’s remdesivir in U.S. appears over

Reuters National Post reports that, since July, U.S. hospitals have turned down about 1/3 of their allocated supplies of Gilead Sciences’ (NASDAQ:GILD) Veklury (remdesivir) for treating COVID-19 patients according to unpublished government statistics provided to Reuters by a U.S. pharmacists’ group.

Some hospitals are still buying the antiviral to beef up inventories in case the pandemic ramps back up this winter, but they say current supplies are adequate, in part because they are limiting use to severely ill patients. Six of eight hospital systems contacted by Reuters stated that they were not using the nucleoside ribonucleic acid polymerase inhibitor for moderately ill patients despite the FDA’s emergency use nod for the indication.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told hospitals and other healthcare organizations that state and territorial public health systems accepted ~72% of supplies offered between July 6 and September 8, according to Michael Ganio, senior director of pharmacy practice and quality at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Government-led distribution of remdesivir will expire at month-end.

Some experts are unconvinced that remdesivir would benefit COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms. Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Adarsh Bhimraj is not “terribly impressed” with the study (supporting the drug’s use in this population) and remains “skeptical” about using remdesivir in patients with moderate COVID, especially given the price ($3,120/five-day course).

Another factor could be the alternative use of inexpensive corticosteroids in severely ill COVID-19 patients. Recent studies showed a mortality benefit compared to standard-of-care treatment.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3613449-shortage-of-gileads-remdesivir-in-u-s-appears-over