Ohio Receives 20 Cases of COVID-19 Drug Remdesivir
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Hospital Association will begin working to distribute the 20 cases of COVID-19 drug remdesivir allocated to the state.
The 20 cases is estimated to be enough for about 100 patients. Remdesivir has been granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. It is currently being studied in clinical trials and has been found to shorten the length of COVID-19 to 11 days from 15 days.
“This is not a cure, but early signs indicate that it can help in the treatment of COVID-19,” said Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton in a statement. “Ohio’s allocation is not enough to treat all patients, so we are working with medical experts to ensure distribution is based on clinical best practices.”
How the drug will be distributed will be determined by the clinical leaders of the geographic regions established by the state to coordinate the coronavirus response. Working in each zone group are clinicians, pharmacists, public health officials, policymakers, ethicists and other health disciplines that helped with the allocation amount to specific hospitals.
The decision was based on the percentage of mechanically ventilated patients, which deems them to have the highest severity level.
Patients will receive either a five-day, six-dose course or a 10-day, 11-dose course, to be determined by clinical staff.
Individual hospitals will be responsible for using clinical justification on distribution of the medication to specific patients. Whenever patient need of remdesivir exceeds the supply of the medication, hospitals will use internal processes appropriate for the allocation.
Pictured: Rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. Given through an IV, the medication is designed to interfere with an enzyme that reproduces viral genetic material. (Gilead Sciences via AP)
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
