An HHS official said the U.S. government's current donated supply of Gilead's COVID-19 drug remdesivir will run out by the end of June, according to CNN.
The government will ship out its last portion of the drug the week of June 29. Gilead had donated 940,000 vials of remdesivir, or enough for about 121,000 patients, to the U.S. for distribution.
Gilead said it plans to ramp up production of remdesivir and work on the best plan for distribution after the donated drug runs out. But it is still unclear how much of the drug will be available this summer, according to the report.
Remdesivir received emergency authorization from the FDA in May to be used for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Studies have shown the drug cut average hospital stays for COVID-19 patients from 15 to 11 days.
HHS said it has been working with Gilead to address some supply chain challenges to help accelerate production. However, HHS official Robert Kadlec, MD, told CNN that "whatever the supply may be, there may not be enough for everyone who may need it."
"Right now, we're waiting to hear from Gilead what is their expected delivery availability of the drug as we go from June to July," Dr. Kadlec told CNN. "We're kind of not in negotiations, but in discussions with Gilead as they project what the availability of their product will be."
Gilead previously said that it expects to have about 500,000 treatment courses ready by October, and more than a million by December.