Israel running low on Remdesivir, drug used in treating COVID-19 patients

“We are trying to get a hold of it,” Sheba Medical Center’s Galia Rahav told The Jerusalem Post. She said the US President Donald Trump “bought all of it and one of it is left for the whole world.”

JULY 12, 2020 22:14

A lab technicians holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" at Eva Pharma Facility in Cairo, Egypt June 25, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH) — A lab technicians holds the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug "Remdesivir" at Eva Pharma Facility in Cairo, Egypt June 25, 2020.

(photo credit: REUTERS/AMR ABDALLAH DALSH)

Israel is running low on the potentially life-saving drug Remdesivir, which is used to treat coronavirus patients, according to health officials. Some hospitals have even run out.
“We are trying to get a hold of it,” Sheba Medical Center’s Galia Rahav told The Jerusalem Post. She said US President Donald Trump “bought all of it and none of it is left for the whole world.”

She said that Israel has been low on the drug since last weekend.

Just this week, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Gilead Sciences, the creators of the drug, reported that Remdesivir potently inhibited the virus in human lung cell cultures and that it improved lung function in mice infected with the virus, a report by Vanderbilt said.

Other studies suggested that patients who received the drug recovered more quickly.

Director of the International Relations Division for the Health Ministry, Asher Shalmon, confirmed that this is a challenge the country is dealing with, and sources in the know told the Post that Israel has tried to obtain additional supplies of the drug through direct inquiries to Gilead.

The source also said that Israel could resort to using intelligence or diplomatic means to secure the drug.

In addition, last week, it was reported that the drug maker Mylan would launch a generic version of Remdesivir, which the source said could make the shortage less severe.

“The shortage is not just about now, but come fall and winter when we could have a third wave, this drug will be even more important,” the source said.

Rahav told the Post that in the meantime the hospital is using plasma and other combination viral and pneumonia drugs to treat seriously ill patients.

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At press time, Israel had 151 patients in serious condition.