Doctors Lambaste Federal Process for Distributing Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir

May 6, 2020

(STAT News) – Hospitals and physicians around the country are sharply criticizing the federal government for the uneven and opaque way it is distributing its supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir. The experimental drug received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week, after preliminary data from a clinical trial showed that it reduced how long it took hospitalized Covid-19 patients to recover. Now, as the drug’s producer, Gilead Sciences, tries to ramp up production, the U.S. government is starting to distribute the limited number of  vials that aren’t needed for ongoing research, so that patients can start to see the benefit outside of clinical trials.