Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 26) — Fresh stocks of remdesivir and tocilizumab, experimental drugs to treat COVID-19, are set to arrive this month.
Treatment czar Leopoldo Vega on Friday said the government has been in touch with the manufacturers of remdesivir and tocilizumab, and was assured that shipments will arrive in a few days.
“The new stocks are coming by March so we can definitely access that,” he said in a media briefing.
The Health department earlier reported that hospitals are running low on stocks. The agency has given hospitals under its direct supervision P5 million each to replenish stocks.
A study published this week showed that the antiviral drug remdesivir shortens the duration of illness for people with higher risk of severe infection.
Tocilizumab, meanwhile, is a repurposed rheumatoid arthritis drug. A number of studies show it helps critically ill patients survive, while others have shown otherwise.
