Remdesivir for Coronavirus: Gilead to Charge Thousands for Treatment in U.S.

Drugmaker Gilead Sciences announced that the coronavirus drug remdesivir will cost $3,120 for people with private insurance, with the amount paid out of pocket determined by insurance, income, and other factors, reports NBC News . "We're in uncharted territory with pricing a new medicine, a novel medicine, in a pandemic," said Gilead CEO Dan O'Day. "We believe that we had to really deviate from the normal circumstances" and assign the medication a price to ensure wide access rather than based exclusively on value to recipients. A U.S. government-led study found that remdesivir accelerated recovery time by 3 percent, or 11 days on average, versus 15 days for those only receiving usual care. Health officials have allocated the limited supply of remdesvir to states, but that agreement with Gilead will expire after September, while the government has obtained more than 500,000 additional courses to supply to hospitals through September. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said remdesivir would be cost-effective in a range of $4,580 to $5,080 if it saved lives, but recent news that a more affordable steroid called dexamethasone improves survival means remdesivir should be priced between $2,520 and $2,800. Gilead's pricing announcement provoked outrage from the consumer group Public Citizen because of the amount taxpayers invested toward the drug's development, totaling at least $70 million.