By Mark Fetalco
The Department of Health (DOH) said Friday new stocks of the anti-viral drug remdesivir and tocilizumab, both used for COVID-19 treatment, will arrive in the country this month.
According to Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, they have communicated with Roche, distributor of tocilizumab, as well as with the supplier of remdesivir.
“They mentioned in a letter formally that the stocks will be arriving this March. It’s coming. I think that we’re just losing some supplies, but the new stocks are coming by March so we can definitely access that,” he said in an online media forum.
Tocilizumab and remdesivir are therapeutic drugs against COVID-19 that are being used under the Compassionate Use Permit of the Food and Drug Administration.
However, the DOH earlier said the current stocks are running low and the remaining supplies are donations from the World Health Organization (WHO).
With this, the DOH has given P5 million to some 19 hospitals in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon to replenish their COVID-19 medicine supply.
“With the necessary allocation given to the different hospitals, they can now actually procure or purchase these medicines for their patients this March,” Vega said.
The WHO has discontinued the use of remdesivir in its Solidarity Trial, citing that it “had little or no effect on overall mortality, initiation of ventilation, and duration of hospital stay in hospitalized patients.”
In relation to this, Vega said other studies show that remdesivir can decrease the length of a patient’s stay in the hospital — “it seems beneficial and that’s the reason why we continue with it.”
Meanwhile, the health department assured the public that the country has enough supplies of dexamethasone, another drug used in COVID-19 treatment. However, they also clarified that “if additional supplies do not arrive and considering the current trend of infection, supplies may only last for another two weeks at most.”
