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US Secures World Stock of Key Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir
US Secures World Stock of Key Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir:
No other country will be able to buy remdesivir, which can help recovery from Covid-19, for next three months at least
The US has bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of one of the two drugs proven to work against Covid-19, leaving none for the UK, Europe or most of the rest of the world.
Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.
“They’ve got access to most of the drug supply [of remdesivir], so there’s nothing for Europe,” said Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University.
Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease. The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90% of August and September.
US to buy 500,000 Remdesivir Coronavirus Treatment Courses at $2,340 Each
US to buy 500,000 remdesivir coronavirus treatment courses at $2,340 each:
The US Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to buy 500,000 remdesivir treatment courses, in the wake of clinical trials revealing the drug can help patients recover more quickly from the coronavirus. A five-day course will cost $2,340,or $3,120 for commercially insured patients, biotech firm Gilead Sciences said.
Early last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for remdesivir to be used in cases of COVID-19 when patients were "hospitalized with severe disease," shortly after the drug showed "clear-cut positive effect" in a US trial.
[...] "To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a release.
[...] Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day addressed the higher price for private insurers, according to health site Stat, by noting that there are "always two prices" for a drug in the US. In an open letter, he acknowledged that the company's work on remdesivir is "far from done."
[...] He also said that countries in the developing world will get the drug at greatly reduced prices, through generic manufacturers.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday July 06 2020, @01:18AM (9 children)
Except he's not looking after the US by buying up all of the Remdesivir. It's just theater.
Trump is unwilling to do anything that requires effort to reduce COVID. That much should be clear to anyone. So, rather than steer the Titanic away from the iceberg, he'd prefer to plow full steam into it and just make sure that he's bought as many lifeboats as he can. Fuck the ship - too hard to steer anyway, and too full of people complaining about icebergs!
Even better, he can selectively make sure that these lifeboats he has go toward the people that he most wants to save - friends, attractive single women, etc.
By writing a huge government cheque (noting that he stands to personally benefit from the transaction), he can claim to have done something for the country and hopefully pull his woeful poll numbers out of the toilet. But if he was really looking after the country, he'd be doing a hell of a lot more than just buying a treatment for those people who have already caught it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @02:11AM (1 child)
Next he'll buy all the bleach and needles.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday July 06 2020, @11:07AM
If we are lucky, he will start using them on himself as a preventative.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 06 2020, @04:11PM (6 children)
It never ceases to amaze me the mental lengths some folks will go to just so they can shit on every single decision Trump makes. They don't bat an eye at holding multiple contradictory opinions if it means they can hate everything he does instead of just most of what he does.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @04:37PM (2 children)
Cuz yer an idiot who still doesn't comprehend that Trump is a criminal lying conman stealing YOUR tax money. Truly this is a sad 4 years for you, irreparably destroying your own credibikity to PWN DUHR LIBS. Whatever sinks your boat muh dood.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 07 2020, @01:28PM (1 child)
Whatever gave you that idea? I'm just not going to let your retard ass say it's somehow shiny and new to Trump when it's so common in politics that it's boring.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @03:03AM
So you're an ostrich. Good times dumb dumb, got any more centrist nonsense to spread on with that cannibalistic pate?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @05:11PM
It's a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_derangement_syndrome [wikipedia.org]
I term it: "psychomotor neural cross connection".
I'd like to see Trump tell the libs to eat food and drink water. In a few weeks things will calm down.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @08:09PM (1 child)
Maybe it's because Trump states multiple conflicting positions on a topic, for many topics. Ya think? Durrr. Maybe the actions - as opposed to the stated positions - are all of a kind, and harmful to general human wellbeing, and American wellbeing in particular? Hmm?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 07 2020, @01:28PM
No, I do not. Every politician ever does that. Dumbass.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.