Alabama Health Department To Use Remdesivir For COVID-19 Patients

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Alabama Department of Public Health will start distributing a UAB-tested drug to hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The ADPH Tuesday received an allotment of the experimental drug remdesivir and first shipments were sent overnight to hospitals throughout the state.

State health officer Dr. Scott Harris said, “Although the total supply of remdesivir is limited, we are grateful that hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe disease in Alabama can receive this potentially lifesaving medication. Because the quantity is limited, the physician members of the Governor’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force determined a formula to distribute the allotment equitably among the state’s hospitals.”

The donated doses of the treatment received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 patients in areas of the country hardest hit by the pandemic.

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Gilead Sciences committed to supplying approximately 607,000 vials of the experimental drug over the next six weeks to treat an estimated 78,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the country under the EUA granted by the FDA. The donation to the U.S. is part of 1.5 million vials of remdesivir the company is donating worldwide.

The National Institutes of Health and Gilead Sciences worked together to conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial of the investigational drug in hospitalized patients. Preliminary results suggested that remdesivir was associated with faster recovery, although the data was not sufficient to determine if the drug was associated with lower mortality. UAB was among the sites that participated in that trial.

In addition to the donated doses for hospitalized patients in the United States and other countries, remdesivir is also available in the U.S. through clinical trials. Initial allocations were sent to 13 states earlier in the month and week.

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