The Landry-Becerra Coalition Urge Federal Government
Action to Increase Access & Affordability for Remdesivir
BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today led a bipartisan multistate
coalition urging U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use their legal
authority to increase the availability of remdesivir. Remdesivir, a drug
manufactured by Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead), has shown promising results in
reducing mortality and hospitalization from COVID-19.
“Protecting the public during this pandemic does not need to
be partisan; and I am grateful that General Becerra and our colleagues from
across the political aisles have come together in this cause. Americans ill
from COVID-19 should have options in their medical treatment, and today’s
petition will hopefully ensure they can access and afford remdesivir,” said
General Landry. “Despite millions and millions of taxpayer-funded assistance,
Gilead has neither established a reasonable price nor met the health and safety
needs of the public. So our bipartisan coalition is calling on the federal
government to exercise its rights to help increase the supply of remdesivir and
lower its price.”
“During this unprecedented crisis, we must use every
possible resource and tool available to save the lives of Americans who are
falling ill from COVID-19,” said General Becerra. “With Coronavirus cases
rising across the nation, our leaders must step up and do what is best for the
people. We cannot afford to leave the supply of this critical medication to
chance and the whims of the marketplace when it was funded in part by taxpayer
dollars. It is time for the Trump Administration to work with our bipartisan
coalition of states to help increase the availability and affordability of
remdesivir.”
Remdesivir is an FDA fast-tracked antiviral drug that was
produced with the benefit of millions of dollars of federal funding and the
time and expertise of CDC and military scientists. Despite the substantial
federal funding provided to its manufacturer, Gilead has been unable to assure
a supply of remdesivir sufficient to alleviate the health and safety needs of
the country amid the pandemic.
As of August 3, 2020, more than 4.64 million Americans have
contracted COVID-19 and 154,000 have died. Yet, by the end of this year, Gilead
is expected to produce only two million treatments, or enough remdesivir to
cover about half of the current confirmed COVID-19 patients in the U.S. Before
this crisis is over and a vaccine made available, many more Americans may
become sick, and their recovery may hinge on the availability and affordability
of remdesivir.
In a letter to the agencies, the Landry-Becerra
coalition urges the federal government to exercise its rights under the
Bayh-Dole Act, which allows the NIH and FDA to ensure Americans can afford and
have reasonable access to a sufficient supply of remdesivir during this
pandemic. Despite a manufacturing cost of between $1 and $5, Gilead has set the
price of the drug at an outrageous and unconscionable $3,200 per treatment
course. Under the Bayh-Dole Act, the NIH and FDA has the authority to license
remdesivir to third party manufacturers to scale up production and distribution
and ensure the drug is made available to all those in need at a reasonable
price. If these agencies are unwilling to exercise this authority, the states
request that the agencies assign this authority for the states to use. The
bipartisan coalition stands ready to ensure that drug manufacturers are
licensed to meet market demand during this public health crisis.
Attorneys General Landry and
Becerra are joined by the Attorneys General of Alaska, American Samoa, Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and
Washington in sending the letter.