On Jun. 29, 2020, Remdesivir, the investigational drug for the treatment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), will be sold for $390 per vial, according to an open letter from Daniel O’Day, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences. Because most patients are expected to receive a 5-day treatment course using 6 vials, this equates to approximately $2340 per patient.

Furthermore, the letter noted that because of the discounts expected by government health care programs, the price for private insurance companies will be $520 per vial, resulting in an estimated $3120 for a typical US patient.

According to the letter, remdesivir is the first antiviral to demonstrate patient improvement in clinical trials for COVID-19, and the pricing of the drug has been a major concern.

In a study of 53 patients who received a 10-day course of remdesivir, 68% showed a clinical improvement. A total of 23% experienced serious adverse effects (AEs), including acute kidney injury, hypotension, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, and septic shock.¹

In normal circumstances, O’Day said drugs would be priced according to the value they provide. He pointed out that early research showed that remdesivir shortened COVID-19 recovery time by 4 days on average, resulting in an estimated savings of $12,000 per patient. These savings could provide major benefits both to the overall health care system and patients individually.