REMDESIVIR

The availability of COVID therapies like remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies, and oral antivirals are running low. Local doctors are calling for more availability.

Please find attached, a copy of the letter from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff to HHS Secretary Becerra regarding the request for federal management and distribution of remdesivir for early outpatient treatment to avoid hospitalizations and deaths.

Mississippi hospital dismisses physician after he sought to administer anti-parasite drug to three people with COVID-19.

The antiviral drug is the first covid-19 treatment to receive full FDA approval. It was also administered to former president Donald Trump in 2020.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against Covid-19. The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases. The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before regulators have decided whether to approve its use.

The Feb. 2020 purchase, disclosed Wednesday, is at odds with the 45-day deadline set forth in a federal law designed to combat insider trading.

The World Health Organization said India accounted for half of all cases reported globally last week as well as 30% of global deaths.

The death toll rose by 3,780 over past 24 hours.

San Antonio – A local clinic hopes to get remdisivir, the FDA-approved treatment option for COVID-19, approved for use outside of the hospital setting. Currently, remedisivir is being used as a treatment for COVID-19 patients only in the hospital. Previously, it was used for treatment of Hepatitis C. They used it in Ebola. “It’s approved to be used in a hospital, so now they’re trying to get to the approval so that it can be used outside of the hospital setting,” Gonzalez said. Related Stories:WHO study finds remdesivir didn’t help COVID-19 patients; UT Health weighs inFDA approves first COVID-19 drug: antiviral remdesivirRemdesivir enters third clinical trial in San Antonio at University Hospital

There were 1,225 new confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing the state total to 60,873. ___WASHINGTON -- Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech will seek emergency government approval for their coronavirus vaccine, as the U.S. aims to begin administering doses by the end of the year. ___LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Kentucky reported a new daily record of 3,649 coronavirus cases Thursday amid warnings by Gov. He and public health experts are warily watching the number of patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. ___WASHINGTON — Infection disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “wants to settle” concerns about a coronavirus vaccine as he returns to the White House podium for the first time in months.

UT Health responds to WHO remdesivir studyPublished: October 16, 2020, 5:32 pmA UT Health official says he has an issue with a study by the World Health Organization that concludes that the drug remdesivir may not be as effective as once thought.

A study coordinated by the World Health Organization has indicated that remdesivir, along with three other potential drug treatments for the coronavirus, has "little or no effect" on death rates among hospitalized patients. The interim results from the WHO's Solidarity Therapeutics Trial, said to be the world's largest randomized control trial of coronavirus treatments, were published Thursday. The results indicated that the remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon drug treatment regimens "appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the in-hospital course of COVID-19 among hospitalized patients." "No study drug definitely reduced mortality (in unventilated patients or any other subgroup of entry characteristics), initiation of ventilation or hospitalisation duration," the authors of the study wrote. The WHO's findings come a week after drugmaker Gilead Sciences published the final data on its own large-scale trial of remdesivir.

We can’t take another hit.”___MIAMI - Florida has reported a slight uptick in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, adding 3,449 to its total caseload on Friday. There were 3,861 new coronavirus cases reported in Wisconsin on Friday, breaking the previous record set just a day earlier of 3,747. The report, released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looks at coronavirus-associated deaths reported between May 1 and August 31. The deaths reported Friday include 10 women and eight men, all in their 60s or older. With 222 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Spain’s total has reached 33,775.

Indias total coronavirus positive cases near 7 million with another 73,272 infections reported in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Saturday put the total positive caseload at 6.97 million, second to 7.66 million infections registered in the worst-hit United States. (AP Photo/Yirmiyan Arthur)NEW DELHI – India’s confirmed coronavirus cases are nearing 7 million with another 73,272 reported in the past 24 hours. India is seeing a slower pace of coronavirus spread since mid-September, when the daily infections touched a record of 97,894 cases. “We have to work aggressively to make sure that during winter months and during the festive season coronavirus cases don’t rise dramatically,” said Dr. Randeep Guleria, a government health expert.

Remdesivir has been called life-saving and it’s now become one of the options President Donald Trump’s physicians are using to help him heal. Dr. Thomas Patterson, with UT Health San Antonio, has been leading a local study site for clinical trials of Remdesivir at University Hospital since March. Patterson said hospitalized COVID-19 patients who have required oxygen benefit the most from the treatment. Questions have mounted surrounding the president’s treatment, but Patterson said health officials are working to find the right answer. White House Physician Sean Conley said there have been improvements in the president’s health since the beginning of his treatment.

With families living in tight quarantine quarters for months now, medicine mix-ups are increasingly becoming a pediatric emergency room issue. The South Texas Poison Help Center’s latest data shows accidental poisoning with over the counter and prescription medications on the rise during the Covid-19 pandemic. As an example, calls to the center for questions about swallowing melatonin is up 47% this year as compared to last. She is part of a group of organizations and agencies that spread awareness of the problem called “Safe Kids.”RELATED: Calls to South Texas Poison Control Center spike amid coronavirus pandemicThere are lots of examples. If you need support to secure your medications, or if you have questions about accidental poisonings, call the South Texas Poison Help Center Hotline at 1-800-222-1222.

SAN ANTONIO – A new study co-authored by a UT Health researcher shows how cancer patients with COVID-19 react to different treatments. According to researchers, the study found new evidence of how cancer patients with COVID-19 react to different treatments, analyzing the treatment of almost 2,200 cancer patients with COVID-19. US signs contract with Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccine dosesThe study found that the cancer patients’ mortality rate was 16%, triple the global average. Dr. Dimpy Shah said patients taking the anti-viral medication Remdesivir had lower mortality rates. However, those taking other drugs engineered to help fight COVID-19 did not.

SAN ANTONIO – Twelve hospitals across the San Antonio area will receive 63 cases of the antiviral drug Remdesivir in an effort to help COVID-19 patients recover. This comes after a surge in coronavirus cases over the course of the last few weeks in the San Antonio area and in the state of Texas. “As Texas faces an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, we remain committed to providing healthcare professionals with the resources they need to respond to this surge and support COVID-19 patients,” Abbott said. “The State of Texas is grateful to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their continued assistance to equip Texas hospitals with Remdesivir. RELATED: San Antonio man says anti-viral drug Remdesivir helped him recover from COVID-19

San Antonio hospitals are reaching capacity, as 87% of available staffed beds are currently in use. Only 13% of staffed hospitals beds are available. Experts have been concerned they might see a shortage in the antiviral drug remdesivir. Much of the supply at local hospitals came from the U.S. government. “This week we did run out of the drug remdesivir for a while.

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The state is reporting a record number of hospitalized coronavirus patientsIf you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241.

The US government's current supply of remdesivir, the only drug known to work against Covid-19, will run out at the end of the month, Dr. Robert Kadlec, a US Department of Health and Human Services official, told CNN. Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization for remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral medication studied to treat Ebola but now used on hospitalized Covid patients. Fear of high pricesStarting in early May, the government began distributing a supply of remdesivir donated by Gilead. The company has provided 940,000 vials of the drug, or enough for about 121,000 patients, according to HHS. Remdesivir isn’t appropriate for all Covid patients, however, and doctors ultimately decide which patients are treated with the drug.

The 9@9: Remdesivir in San Antonio hospitals; Deadly virus threatens US rabbit populationIf you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241.

SAN ANTONIO – Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that five San Antonio hospitals will receive cases of remdesivir to help treat COVID-19. Nine cases of the antiviral drug have been sent to the hospitals from the Texas Department of State Health Services, which were provided from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. San Antonio doctor involved in remdesivir trial says FDA emergency approval is ‘very exciting’“The State of Texas is working swiftly to ensure our hospitals and medical providers have the resources they need to treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19,” Abbott said. “I thank our partners at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for sending these cases of remdesivir to the state of Texas. FDA allows emergency use of drug remdesivir for coronavirus

University Hospital, UT Health San Antonio begin second phase of patient testing for promising COVID-19 drugPublished: May 12, 2020, 6:13 pmThe COVID-19 Infectious Disease team at University Health System and UT Health San Antonio has launched the second stage of a clinical trial involving a coronavirus drug that has delivered promising results.

After doctors expressed outrage, HHS backtracked on its original plan and decided to give remdesivir to state health departments to manage. The group has already begun working through patients' charts, and the hospital has enough remdesivir for about 65 patients. For doctors without remdesivir: ‘It’s heartbreaking’Officials with Health and Human Services have said it's distributing remdesivir to "areas of the country hardest hit by the pandemic." Doctors don’t know who will benefit mostAs physicians choose who gets remdesivir and who doesn't, doctors are to some extent flying blind. Walensky said some doctors in her hospital have also turned down offers of remdesivir for their patients.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted authorization to Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) for emergency use of its experimental antiviral drug remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19, the agency and President Donald Trump said on Friday. FILE PHOTO: Vials of investigational coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment drug remdesivir are capped at a Gilead Sciences facility in La Verne, California, U.S. March 18, 2020. We want to make sure nothing gets in the way of these patients getting the medicine, so we made a decision to donate about 1.5 million vials, he said. Gilead has defended prospects for remdesivir in helping fight the coronavirus pandemic against signs that it may not provide a significant benefit. Vice President Mike Pence said the 1.5 million vials would start being distributed to hospitals on Monday.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday grew more optimistic about America's ability to safely resume business activity after hearing welcoming news about an antiviral's potential to fight coronavirus from Gilead Sciences. Preliminary results of a clinical trial studying the effects of remdesivir on Covid-19 returned positive data in helping patients recover from the contagion. "Remdesivir is just what the doctor ordered," Cramer said. The U.S. government has taken drastic measures to slow the spread of the deadly virus to prevent medical centers from becoming overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. "That's why the market roared higher today, and make no mistake, this move was all about remdesivir," Cramer said of Wednesday's rally.

SAN ANTONIO – Doctors at University Hospital have launched an aggressive testing campaign of new drugs and treatments they hope will help them create a cocktail for COVID-19 cures in the future. According to Dr. Diego Macelli, medical director of respiratory therapy at University Hospital, the repertoire for hospitalized treatment includes five drug approaches. UT Health San Antonio to test investigational drug for COVID-19 at University HospitalThe other rheumatoid arthritis drug being tested is hydroxychloroquine. Anti-coagulents are now regularly being administered along with high dose steroids, that again, attack the intense inflammation patients must survive. The first case confirmed in the U.S. was in mid-January and the first case confirmed in San Antonio was in mid-February.

A new report from STAT News on Gilead's experimental drug Remdesivir serves as an encouraging update on the drug's potential to fight Covid-19, however analysts argue it's largely anecdotal and should be interpreted with caution. Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as a contender to treat Covid-19 given it showed promise in the past in treating SARS and MERS, both caused by coronaviruses. A statement from the University of Chicago Medicine said that "drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound." The report from the Chicago hospital comes amid mounting anecdotal evidence supporting the drug's potential effectiveness in treating the virus. As CNBC's Meg Tirrell has highlighted, this is not controlled clinical trial data it is a glimpse into what one of the sites that is running the trial is seeing.

Gilead Sciences shares popped by more than 8% on Friday after details leaked of a closely watched clinical trial of the company's antiviral drug Remdesivir, showing what appears to be promising results in treating Covid-19. The University of Chicago's phase 3 drug trial found that most of its patients had "rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms" and were discharged in less than a week, health-care publication STAT News reported Thursday. "The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We've only had two patients perish," University of Chicago infectious disease specialist Kathleen Mullane said, according to STAT News, which obtained a video of her remarks. Gilead shares jumped as much as 16% in after-hours trading Thursday immediately after the report published.

UT Health San Antonio announced this week that it has joined an international effort to test an experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir, as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus. Brooke Army Medical Center is also a clinical trial site for the antiviral drug. Along with UT Health San Antonio, they are among dozens of sites around the world participating in the clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Healths Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Patterson said UT Health San Antonio began looking into participating in clinical trials to treat coronavirus since Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland received its first repatriated Americans from Wuhan, China, on Feb. 7. There have been 200 patients enrolled so far, Patterson said, noting the number of enrolled patients is progressing rapidly because of the explosion in diagnoses across the world.

World Health Organization officials are holding a press conference to update the public on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 737,000 people across the globe, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at press conference Friday that a vaccine is likely 12 to 18 months away. Biotech company Moderna began the first human trial testing for a potential vaccine to prevent COVID-19 last week. There are no proven therapies for the coronavirus, which has killed at least 35,000 people across the globe. Read CNBC's live updates to see the latest news on the COVID-19 outbreak.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on U.S. health regulators to expedite potential therapies aimed at treating COVID-19 amid the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak, saying it could lead to a breakthrough while a vaccine is still under development. Trials on potential coronavirus therapies are already in the works, and it was unclear how Trumps call for faster experimental testing process could further expedite an effective treatment. It could be a game changer or maybe not, Trump told reporters. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said his agency was working quickly to examine all possibilities. In the short term, were looking at drugs that are already approved for other indications, Hahn said.