'US' current supply of Remdesivir to get exhausted by end of June'
Jun 08, 2020
Washington DC [USA], June 8 : The US government's current supply of Remdesivir, the only drug till now known to be working against coronavirus, will exhaust by the end of June.
"Right now, we're waiting to hear from Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of the drug, what is their expected delivery availability of the drug as we go from June to July. We're kind of not in negotiations, but in discussions with Gilead as they project what the availability of their product will be," Dr. Robert Kadlec, a US Department of Health and Human Services official, told CNN.
Kadlec further said that the Gilead has given a "general range" of product delivery for July and August, which then "significantly expands beginning in September, October, and through the fall as they kind of open the spigot of their production and processing."
However, "whatever the supply may be, there may not be enough for everyone who may need it," he added.
In May, the US Food and Drug Administration had given an emergency authorization for Remdesivir.
When the coronavirus" pandemic first struck the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) also identified Remdesivir as one of the potential treatments for the disease.
The drug also managed to shorten hospital visits by four days and reduced mortality rate from 11.6 per cent to 8 per cent.
However, Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said these results were modest and there was no significant reduction in deaths.
