A bipartisan coalition of State Attorneys General have asked the US Department of Health and Human Services to step up efforts to increase the supply of the COVID-19 drug remdesivir as well as lowering the cost of the medication, USA Today reports.
Led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, the state officials have urged DHHS, the Federal Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health to make it easier for other manufacturers to license the drug formula to boost the supply of the medication.
The manufacturer of the drug, Gilead Sciences, charges more than $3,000 for a five day therapeutic treatment of the medication, which has been shown in studies to help abate coronavirus.
The State AGs are calling on the administration to invoke the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which would allow the federal government to take over patent rights if a pharmaceutical company cannot or will not increase production in the face of a public health crisis.
The letter is signed by attorneys general of 34 states and territories: California, Louisiana, Alaska, American Samoa, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.