Drug maker Gilead has set the price for its coronavirus treatment remdesivir at $390 per vial for the U.S. government and developed countries.
That puts the price of a five-day treatment course at $2,340 per patient for people enrolled in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid — but private insurers will pay $520 per vial, or $3,120 for five days of treatment, the company said Monday. The U.S. is the only country for which Gilead has set tiered pricing.
A senior Health and Human Services official said Monday during a background briefing that the Department of Veterans Affairs helped to negotiate the lower price for government programs.
The federal government has secured enough of the antiviral drug to treat more than 500,000 patients in hospitals through September, HHS said Monday. That amounts to Gilead’s entire planned production run for July and 90 percent of its production in August and September. The government has also
reserved additional doses for use in clinical trials, HHS said.
Under the plan, HHS will allocate remdesivir doses to state health departments based on need, and states will then allocate doses to hospitals. Those facilities will then be able to purchase the drug through Gilead’s distributor, AmerisourceBergen.
