Covid-19 roundup: Russ­ian biotech seeks per­mis­sion to pro­duce remde­sivir gener­ic; Why did BAR­DA fund plas­ma com­pa­ny part-owned by Rick San­to­rum?

Russ­ian biotech Phar­masyn­tez is turn­ing to the Krem­lin for a way around Gilead’s patent on remde­sivir, Reuters re­port­ed.

The com­pa­ny has asked Rus­sia for per­mis­sion to man­u­fac­ture a gener­ic ver­sion of the patent­ed Covid-19 drug with­out Gilead’s con­sent, in the in­ter­est of na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty or de­fense, ac­cord­ing to Reuters. And it’s plan­ning to of­fer the gener­ic at a steep dis­count: $540 for a 6-vial course, com­pared to Gilead’s five-day course at at $3,120, the news agency re­port­ed.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER