The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the allocation plan for Gilead's donation of remdesivir, allowing state health departments to distribute the drug to fight COVID-19.
In April, Gilead donated its initial supply of 1.5 million vials (doses) of experimental remdesivir to the U.S. government. The drugmaker deferred questions on donation and distribution to the government. The FDA granted the drug an Emergency Use Authorization on May 1, allowing remdesivir to be administered by healthcare providers to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.
Hospitals across the country have expressed concern regarding who will get access to the donated treatments. According to HHS, earlier this week, an initial allocation was sent to the following seven states: Indiana (38 cases), Massachusetts (117 cases), New Jersey (94 cases), New York (565 cases), Rhode Island (30 cases), Tennessee (7 cases) and Virginia (33 cases).
Beginning on the evening of May 7, 2020, the process was initiated to deliver cases of the drug to a second wave of states including: Connecticut (30 cases), Illinois (140 cases), Iowa (10 cases), Maryland (30 cases), Michigan (40 cases) and New Jersey (110 cases). Each case contains 40 vials of the donated drug.
HHS announced that state health departments will distribute the doses to appropriate hospitals in their states "because state and local health departments have the greatest insight into community-level needs in the COVID-19 response, including appropriate distribution of a treatment in limited supply."