Pfizer signs agreement with Gilead Sciences to manufacture remdesivir

Pfizer has signed a multiyear agreement to make COVID-19 drug remdesivir for developer Gilead Sciences.

Gilead is aiming to make enough of the drug by the end of the year to treat more than two million COVID-19 patients and agreed to send nearly all of its remdesivir supply to the US through September.

Britain’s Hikma Pharmaceuticals also said it has started manufacturing remdesivir at its Portugal plant.

Gilead said its manufacturing network for the drug had grown to more than 40 companies in North America, Europe and Asia to add capacity.

Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of US state attorneys general urged the federal government to allow other companies to make Gilead’s remdesivir, to increase its availability and lower the price of the antiviral drug.

Pfizer will provide contract manufacturing services through its McPherson, Kansas plant, the drugmaker said. It was not immediately clear if Pfizer would supply only for the US market.