Donated Remdesivir ​Doses Shipped To Some U.S. States

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. health officials said Saturday donated shipments of experimental drug Remdesivir have been shipped to Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey.

"The donated doses of the treatment, which received an Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will be used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients in areas of the country hardest hit by the pandemic," according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Connecticut was to receive 30 cases with each case containing 40 vials of the donated drug. Illinois was to receive 140 cases. Iowa was to receive 10 cases. Maryland was to receive 30 cases. Michigan was to receive 40 cases and New Jersey was to receive 110 cases, health officials said.

The shipments were donated to the United States by manufacturer Gilead Sciences, Inc. In addition to the donated doses for hospitalized patients, remdesivir is also available in the U.S. through clinical trials.

“We now have solid data showing that remdesivir diminishes to a modest degree the time to recovery for people hospitalized with COVID-19,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said in a statement Friday. “ACTT 2 will examine if adding an anti-inflammatory agent to the remdesivir regimen can provide additional benefit for patients, including improving mortality outcomes.”

Administered through an IV, Remdesivir is designed to interfere with an enzyme that reproduces viral genetic material. In animal tests against SARS and MERS, diseases caused by similar coronaviruses, the drug helped prevent infection and reduced the severity of symptoms when given early enough in the course of illness, the Associated Press reported.

Health officials said Gilead committed to supplying 607,000 vials of the experimental drug over the next six weeks to treat an estimated 78,000 patients under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization.

"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," U.S. health officials said.

Health officials said the donated drug is available to patients on ventilators, those on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or those who require supplemental oxygen due to room-air blood oxygen levels at or below 94 percent.

An initial allocation of the drug was sent to seven states earlier this week: Indiana received 38 cases. Massachusetts received 117 cases. New Jersey received 94 cases. New York received 565 cases. Rhode Island received 30 cases while Tennessee received seven cases and Virginia received 33 cases.

U.S. health officials said cases will be sent to all 50 states as well as U.S. territories, the Veterans Health Administration and the Indian Health Service.