Remdesivir clinical trial! What is remdesivir? What is the price?

As of February 7, a total of 31,214 cases of novel pneumonia have been confirmed nationwide. It is estimated that the number will rise to 35,000 tomorrow. my country is in urgent need of drugs for treatment. The good news today is that Remdesivir has entered clinical trials. So what is Remdesivir? How much is the price?

What is the clinical trial of Remdesivir?

On the evening of February 5, Gilead Sciences responded to the progress of clinical trials of remdesivir, a potentially effective drug for COVID-19 that is currently of greatest concern to the public.

Currently, Gilead has reached an agreement with Chinese health authorities to support two clinical trials in people infected with 2019-nCoV to determine the safety and effectiveness of remdesivir as a potential treatment for coronavirus.

One of the studies evaluated the efficacy of remdesivir in patients who were diagnosed with 2019-nCoV and were hospitalized but did not show significant clinical symptoms; the other study evaluated the efficacy of remdesivir in confirmed patients with more severe clinical symptoms. Both clinical trials were led by Chinese researchers and conducted in Wuhan. Gilead provides the drugs needed for the study free of charge and provides support for the design and conduct of the study.

What is remdesivir?
Remdesivir is a new nucleoside antiviral drug and also a broad-spectrum antiviral drug. It is understood that Remdesivir is a drug under development by Gilead Sciences. It is a nucleoside analog. In HAE cells, the EC50 value for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV is 74nM, and in delayed brain tumor cells, the EC50 value for mouse hepatitis virus is 30nM.

What is the price of Remdesivir?
According to an import drug clearance form circulated online, a batch of remdesivir entered the country through Beijing Airport Customs on February 4, with a total of 2,843 boxes (1 piece/box). Each piece of remdesivir contains 150 mg (milligrams). The total price of 2,843 pieces of remdesivir is US$56,405.12, or about RMB 394,751. This means that the price of 10 mg of remdesivir is about RMB 9.3. The recipient of this medicine is the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

The GlpBio website operated in China shows that the price of 10 mg of remdesivir is 7,660 yuan, which is more than 820 times the import price. The price of 50 mg of remdesivir is 24,750 yuan, which is more than 532 times the price of imported 10 mg of remdesivir. 100 mg of remdesivir needs to be priced by inquiry.

At present, the United States has transferred the chemical structure of the drug to Beijing and authorized China to produce it on its own by the end of April 2020. It is expected that remdesivir will be able to achieve a certain degree of self-production in China. Remdesivir has not yet been approved for marketing in any country, and its safety and effectiveness have not been proven. Remdesivir is an investigational drug and has no data for 2019-nCoV. In the absence of any approved treatment options, treating physicians weighed the risks and benefits and requested medication. With the support of local regulators, Gilead provided the experimental drug Remdesivir for the emergency treatment of a small number of patients infected with 2019-nCoV.

The price of remdesivir is actually not important, the main thing is whether this drug can really cure the new coronavirus pneumonia. It is understood that the patent has been opened. It doesn’t matter how much it sells for. We can manufacture it ourselves, provided that remdesivir is really effective!