May 4, 2020 / Alexandra Sternlicht, Forbes Staff
TOPLINE
Gilead Sciences—which manufactures Remdesivir, the antiviral found to help hasten coronavirus patients’ recovery—is donating its entire Remdesivir stockpile to the government, said the biopharma company’s CEO in a Sunday interview on CBS.
KEY FACTS
- The drug supply will be given to the federal government, which will then allocate it on as-needed basis across the country starting early next week, Gilead Sciences chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day said in the Sunday morning interview.
- “We’ve donated the entire supply . . . because we acknowledge and recognize the human suffering . . . and want to make sure nothing gets in the way of this getting to patients,” said O’Day.
- Though Remdesivir is not a coronavirus cure, in a study of 800 patients, the antiviral drug shortened the duration of hospital stay in users to 11 days on average, versus 15 days for COVID-19 patients who were not administered the drug.
