MCPHERSON, Kan. — A drug that has shown promise in treating COVID-19 patients will be produced in McPherson.
Pfizer announced last week a multi-year agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to manufacture and supply Gilead’s investigational antiviral remdesivir, as one of multiple external manufacturing organizations supporting efforts to scale up supply of the investigational treatment for COVID-19. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will provide contract manufacturing services at Pfizer’s McPherson, Kansas facility to manufacture and supply remdesivir for Gilead.
Gilead said Monday it has filed a New Drug Application with the FDA on the basis of two randomized, open-label, multi-center Phase 3 clinical studies conducted by itself, and one other study by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The company claims the drug led to faster recovery from COVID-19 compared to placebo, and a 5-to-10-day treatment led to clinical improvements. Gilead noted that the drug was well-tolerated with no new safety signals identified.
The McPherson drug manufacturing plant employs around 1800 people.