A bipartisan group of state attorneys general are calling on the US government to allow other companies to make Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir in order to increase availability and lower the price. The coalition of more than 30 state attorneys general called on the government to act or allow states to do so.
Gilead charges most U.S. patients $3,120 per course, or $520 per vial of remdesivir.
The medicine is one of only two that have demonstrated an ability to help hospitalized COVID-19 patients in formal clinical trials. It received emergency use authorization (EUA) in the United States and approval in other countries after it shortened hospital stays in a large U.S. trial.
The coalition is led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Their letter invokes the Bayh-Dole Act, which would allow the license of remdesivir to third-party manufacturers to scale up production.
The letter went to the heads of the U.S. Health and Human Services department, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.
Read the full AG letter