White House to direct supply of COVID drug amid access fears

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trying to head off another chaotic scramble for scarce supplies, the White House said Friday it will step in to help coordinate distribution of the first drug that appears to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster.

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of White House Coronavirus Task Force, will become a chief consultant on where the intravenous medication remdesivir will be distributed.

“She’s the person who’s constantly reviewing the numbers, constantly reviewing the data," McEnany said.

She provided no additional detail on distribution.

Alarm is growing in the medical community about access to the drug, which was cleared for emergency use last week by the Food and Drug Administration. As has happened with personal protective gear and coronavirus tests, the availability of remdesivir could become another foreseeable debacle in the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Understandably, hospitals with COVID-19 patients are desperate to access the product," the head of a national organization that represents hospitals pharmacists wrote Vice President Mike Pence earlier this week.

“The process for hospitals to access the drug remains unclear,” wrote Paul Abramowitz, CEO of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

The company that makes the antiviral drug, California-based Gilead Sciences, has said it is donating its entire stockpile to help in the U.S. pandemic response.

But Abramowitz said that initial supply will be “very limited," 1.5 million doses that translate to 5 to 10 days of treatment for 140,000 patients.

“It is clear that the majority of current COVID-19 patients will not receive it,” Abramowitz wrote to Pence.

He raised concerns about potential scenarios,...