FDA labels potential coronavirus treatment as 'orphan' drug, likely jacking up its price

A coronavirus treatment is still out of reach — and its eventual price tag probably will be too.

Dozens of potential treatments for the rampant COVID-19 virus are in the works, including one antiviral by Gilead Sciences known as remdesivir. Even though the new coronavirus has caused a certified global pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration officially labeled remdesivir a treatment for "rare diseases" on Monday, with potentially disastrous consequences, The Intercept reports.

The FDA labeled remdesivir an "orphan" drug on Monday, allowing Gilead to profit exclusively off its developed treatment for years after it first hits the market, The Intercept continues. That designation will stop other manufacturers from even acquiring the supplies needed to make a generic — and likely cheaper — version of remdesivir. And even though other firms around the world are working on their own version of the drug, patients in the U.S. may be barred from buying it.

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The 1983 Orphan Drug Act also gives special incentives to companies who develop treatments for diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. — a threshold COVID-19 hasn't yet surpassed, though possibly due to lack of testing. The act's grants and tax credits are meant to stimulate production of potentially not-so-profitable medicines and treatments.

Gilead has close ties with the White House, and particularly President Trump's coronavirus task force. Joe Grogan joined the COVID-19 response team after lobbying for Gilead from 2011 to 2017. Gilead and the White House, on behalf of Grogan, declined to comment. Read more at The Intercept.