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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: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday July 06 2020, @03:30PM (2 children)
Trump was elected because Americans are angry at having been shafted by free trade agreements over and over again the past 40 years. They're angry that their standard of living has been eroded by unchecked immigration from the third-world. They're angry that their supposed leaders are the ones conspiring against them.
Many forget that 4 years ago there was a massive free trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership that the Obama administration had negotiated in absolute secrecy, so secret, in fact, that not even members of Congress had been allowed to see it; Congress was supposed to approve the agreement before they would even be allowed to see what was in it. Trump pledged to kill it, Hillary said she would, too, but she had negotiated the thing as Sect. of State and everyone knew she was full of shit. Trump was elected, and he instantly killed the TPP.
That is such a huge deal that it's still worth it.
So, if Europe and others are not enjoying American populist anger, well, that's too bad. But maybe it's helping break them out of the spell of globalism that has been screwing them over, too. The gillets jaunes in France, Brexit, voters in Austria and Hungary, and elsewhere indicate that the same forces that produced Trump are at work in Europe, too.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by Opportunist on Monday July 06 2020, @05:49PM
Well, in Austria it already got a dampener when it turned out that the populist bozo was filmed in a holiday resort where he promised someone posing as the wife of some Russian oligarch that he'll hand over some of Austria's leading media for sufficient money. Didn't outright kill his career because even there some people are stupid enough to still think that he's worth more than a kick to his brown ass.
But certainly, populism works everywhere where there are people who are dissatisfied and disillusioned with politics. The worse people are doing, the better it works.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2020, @08:13PM
Yes, and that's the problem. They think the standard of living has been eroded by immigration, while in reality the standard of living has been eroded by your own 1%. It's so easy to make you look for the problem elsewhere that you fail to see what's right in front of you. Like my sibling says, populism works.
Learn to think. Learn to understand. Learn to recognize false idols. But most of all, learn to recognize that those who are in the same position as you are not your enemy.