As remdesivir has reportedly been in great demand in US, Taiwan only received 78 doses out of 2,000-dose order

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Faced with a shortage of remdesivir, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said on Monday (Aug. 3) that it is considering the adoption of dexamethasone as an alternative drug, indicating that it may include it in the treatment guidelines for COVID-19 patients.

In order to ensure that COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms can be treated with remdesivir in the event of a second wave of the virus, the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of remdesivir at the end of May, ordering 2,000 doses to be delivered before the end of July, per CNA.

As remdesivir has reportedly been in great demand in the U.S., Taiwan only received 78 doses out of the 2,000-dose order, causing public health concerns.

The U.S. government announced at the end of June that it would purchase 500,000 doses of remdesivir, an amount equal to Gilead Sciences Inc.’s total output for July, August, and September.    [FULL  STORY]