"France has ensured the availability of sufficient doses" of the antiviral remdesivir, the first drug to be shown to be relatively effective in treating Covid-19, says the Medicines Agency (ANSM).
The US government announced a week ago that it had acquired 92% of all production of remdesivir by the Gilead laboratory from July to September, or about 500,000 treatments out of nearly 550,000, after clinical trials have shown its relative effectiveness. .
"In order to secure access to the drug remdesivir on the national territory, France has ensured the availability of sufficient doses from the Gilead laboratory," said the ANSM.
No shortage to be expected for developed countries
Washington's announcement had raised fears of a shortage of the drug in the rest of the world, but Germany and the United Kingdom assured like France to have sufficient stocks to treat their patients.
This antiviral received conditional marketing authorization in the European Union on July 3, less than a month after filing the application. This procedure allows drugs "that meet an unmet medical need" to be marketed with less complete data than expected, if the estimated benefit is greater than the known risks.
Remdesivir was previously available in France as part of clinical trials, or through compassionate use in patients who could not be included in the trials. Since January 2020, 130 patients have been treated with this treatment in hospital outside of clinical trials, specifies the ANSM.
In the United States, $ 520 per dose of Remdesivir
Supposed to reduce the length of hospital stay by 4 days, the cost of remdesivir in the United States is $ 520 per dose (€ 463), or $ 3,120 (€ 2,775) for a week of treatment for people with private insurance. People benefiting from state Medicare programs will pay a little less.
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Gilead set the price at $ 390 per vial in all developed countries, or $ 2,340 for normal treatment of six vials in five days. As the Wall Street Journal notes, its cost of production would be only ten dollars a dose.