Covid-19 treatment remdesivir priced at $3,120 for the typical patient
Gilead Sciences, the maker of the first covid-19 treatment found to have worked in clinical trials, said it will charge U.S. hospitals $3,120 for the typical patient with private insurance.
The company's chairman and chief executive, Daniel O'Day, broke down the pricing for remdesivir in a letter on Monday. Patients will require six vials, at $520 apiece, over five days. Gilead relied on U.S. health care system guidelines to make its calculation and said it expected government discounts. For other countries, the treatment will cost $2,340 per patient.
"As the world continues to reel from the human, social and economic impact of this pandemic, we believe that pricing remdesivir well below value is the right and responsible thing to do," O'Day said.
Remdesivir, developed 10 years ago and largely funded by taxpayers, has drawn international attention for Gilead Sciences. In April, the antiviral drug was shown in National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases clinical trials to shorten the recovery time for coronavirus patients, but had marginal impact on death rates.
Gilead said that it holds an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will work with states to manage allocating the treatment to hospitals through the end of September until "supplies are less constrained."