WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Saturday that Iowa is one of six states that will receive an allocation of the coronavirus drug remdesivir.
Starting Thursday night, cases of the drug were sent to Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey. Iowa will be receiving 10 cases of the drug. Each case contains 40 vials.
The producer of the drug Gilead Sciences, Inc. is donating it to the United States. They will be supplying around 607,000 vials of the drug over the next six weeks. They estimate they'll be able to treat 78,000 COVID-19 patients.
Cases have already been distributed to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.
The FDA allowed the emergency use of remdesivir for COVID-19 in-patients in the hospital after a study found it can shorten recovery time by 31%.
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It's also the first drug shown to help fight the coronavirus, however it still needs formal approval from the FDA after additional studies prove its safety and effectiveness.
The Iowa Department of Public Health will distribute the doses to hospitals around the state.
Since Sunday morning, Iowa has reported 11,959 Iowans have contracted COVID-19 and 413 have been hospitalized.
The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.
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