June 29, 2020 / Mallory Hackett, Associate Editor
The Department of Health and Human Services has secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of the drug remdesivir to be purchased directly by hospitals through a new agreement with Gilead Sciences.
The agreement goes through September. The drug will be sent directly to hospitals based on state health department allocation data. Previously, the drug was sent to health departments to be delivered to hospitals, but the new protocol is aimed at streamlining the process, according to HHS. 
Hospitals will receive the product at a price no higher than the wholesale acquisition price of approximately $3,200 per treatment course.
Shipments of remdesivir will occur every two weeks, according to the HHS. The shipments will be based upon hospitalization and inpatient data.