The US bought 90% of COVID-19 drugs and shut the doors on the world

The Highlights

• Remdesivir has been shown to help moderately ill patients recover more quickly from COVID-19, and is only of the only treatments that has been found.

• Gilead has set the price of a course of a remdesivir treatment around 6 vials at $2,340 for developed countries, including the US.

• RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams estimated the company will generate around $1 billion in profit for 2020 with the new price of remdesivir.

 The United states bought more than 90% of the world’s supply of remdesivir, the only drug approved for COVID-19, which leaves the rest of the world in a limbo for the next three months.

Gilead Sciences, the US-based company that makes the drug, agreed to sell more than 500,000 treatment courses to the US until September, almost the entire amount it has the ability to produce.

How effective is Remedesivir in treating coronavirus?

Remdesivir, which was originally developed to treat Ebola, has been shown to help moderately ill patients recover more quickly from COVID-19, and was granted temporary FDA approval for that purpose in early May.

 “President Trump has struck an amazing deal to ensure Americans have access to the first authorized therapeutic for COVID-19,” 

Health and Human Services (HHS) Director Alex Azar

The remdesivir deal will leave many countries scrambling for an alternative

Generic alternatives for the drug exist, but patent law means that only low- and middle-income countries can produce their own but won’t be able to sell to developed countries.

Gilead will sell all of its supply for July to the US, as well as 90% of the supply produced in August and September, the HHS announced.

Before a vaccine is widely available, the remdesivir deal will leave many countries scrambling for an alternative.

The US is currently seeing a massive surge in its coronavirus cases since, with several states reporting unprecedented numbers of infections since lockdowns were eased. On Tuesday , 48,000 new cases were reported in a single day, setting a new record for the fourth time in a week

RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams estimated the company will generate around $1 billion in profit for 2020 with the new price of remdesivir.