The Manila City Hall has purchased 2,000 vials of the expensive anti-viral drug remdesivir, which has helped patients recover from COVID-19.
Mayor Isko Moreno told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo today that the vials will be used by six public hospitals in Manila by at least 200 patients infected by the coronavirus. The hospitals have already secured permits to use remdesivir from the Food and Drug Administration.
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“We thought of how we could help our medical frontliners, how we could unplug patients [from ventilators] by adding [an] additional mode of care. In this case, this drug can help,” he said in English and Filipino.
“We have 2,000 vials that can be used by 200 patients because one patient can consume 10 to 11 vials, 1 vial per day,” he added.
Moreno said they were able to purchase remdesivir, which is priced at about US$390 per vial, through a sister company of Gilead, its official manufacturer. Only Manila residents being treated in the six public hospitals will be able to use it.
“This is enough for our existing patients,” he said.
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