The maker of a drug shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries.
Gilead Sciences announced the price Monday for remdesivir, and said the price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. It will sell for far less in poorer countries where generic drugmakers are being allowed to make it.
Remdesivir’s price has been highly anticipated since it became the first medicine to show benefit in the pandemic, shortening recovery for severely ill hospitalized patients by about four days.
However, the price was swiftly criticized; a consumer group called it "an outrage" because of the amount taxpayers invested toward the drug’s development.
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