Hospitals to begin purchasing remdesivir directly from distributor

Beginning today, American hospitals can purchase Veklury (remdesivir) directly from the drug’s distributor, the Department of Health and Human Services announced today.

Due to limited supply, the federal government previously allocated and distributed the antiviral drug, authorized for emergency use to treat hospitalized adult and pediatric patients with suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19.

Gilead Sciences, which makes the drug, said it is “now meeting real-time demand for Veklury in the United States and anticipates meeting global demand for Veklury in October, even in the event of potential future surges of COVID-19.”

To ensure stable management of drug supply in the near term, AmerisourceBergen will continue to serve as the sole U.S. distributor through the end of this year and will sell the product directly to hospitals, the company said. It said hospitals “will control the quantity of Veklury that they order, enabling them to have ample, predictable supply of Veklury in advance of any anticipated increase in COVID-19 incidence.”