Gilead Committed to Distributing Covid Treatment Remdesivir

“We’ve invested a lot in Remdesivir and we’ll continue to invest a lot,”. Gilead Sciences (GILD) CEO, Daniel O’Day said that aside from revenues, the most important thing that they are doing here is to bring a positive impact for the patients and for the world as a whole.

In an interview with CNBC, he said that hospitalizations have quadrupled since October last year and they are very happy to know that their treatment Remdesivir is helping not only the front liners but also the growing bills and that it reduces hospital stays by at least a week since 1 out of 2 patients in the hospitals are receiving the treatment. “It also reduces the chances of patients going on to more severe illness and dying, by 70%”, he added saying that these are the most important benefits for all the patients.

“The colleagues and I at Gilead are very pleased that this is one piece of the puzzle in helping with the pandemic and we’re certainly not done. We’re continuing to invest in Remdesivir earlier in the lines of therapy and in combination with other medicines to help patients in the healthcare systems.”, said O’Day.

According to Gilead’s CEO, the company at present has 40 ongoing clinical trials with Remdesivir. “As you know, Remdesivir stops the replication of the virus so it’s most effective if it is given even earlier in the course of hospitalizations and illness.”. O’Day mentioned that they currently have studies looking if they can take this medicine outside the hospital in an outpatient setting with three IV infusions or with an inhaled version. The findings of these studies will arrive in the coming months of 2021.

In the later stages of the disease, the inflammatory process actually creates bigger issues for patients accordingly. “Remdesivir is being used in combination for those later stage patients with Dexamethasone and we’re also looking at combinations with the antibody medicines to find the best way to improve the outcome for patients,” marked O’Day.

On a final note, Daniel O’Day pledged that they will stay firmly committed to distributing and innovating Remdesivir as he concludes, “We understand the burden this pandemic is causing to society, to the patients and their families, and our scientists and team at Gilead, and I’m so impressed by the industry’s response here with the vaccines and therapeutics all coming together to end this pandemic”.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.