CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital is one of 15 hospitals in Texas that will receive the drug remdesivir to treat patients with COVID-19.
The Texas Department of State Health Services released a statement Tuesday that it is distributing 1,200 vials of remdesivir. The antiviral medication has shown promise in early trials in speeding up the recovery time among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drug is the only drug that’s been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration on an emergency basis. The limited supply of the drugs being distributed among the selected Texas hospitals are provided by the federal government from a supply donated by a manufacturing company called Gilead.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent Texas 30 cases of remdesivir, enough to treat approximately 120 patients. Each case contains 40 vials of the drug. DSHS says it consulted on the distribution rationale with the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Medical Association, and the Rapid Assessment Subcommittee of the Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response.
The vials are being shipped Tuesday to the 15 hospital serving 14 communities across the state. Some hospitals are able to get remdesivir through clinical trials or the manufacturer’s expanded access program. Where that’s the case, the state supply is being directed to other facilities in the area.
Medical staff at each hospital will determine how the drug will be used, though it must be prescribed in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization, allowing for the treatment of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease. Preliminary results from a clinical trial showed the average recovery time among patients who received remdesivir was 11 days versus 15 days with a placebo. Those preliminary results did not show significant survival benefit.
The following hospitals and health care systems will receive at least one case of remdesivir:
- Amarillo: Northwest Texas Healthcare System, 2 cases
- Austin: Dell Seton Medical Center, 3 cases
- Corpus Christi: CHRISTUS Spohn Health System, 1 case
- Dallas: Parkland Memorial Hospital, 4 cases
- El Paso: University Medical Center, 2 cases
- Fort Worth: John Peter Smith Hospital, 3 cases
- Houston: Ben Taub Hospital & Memorial Hermann Hospital System, 6 cases
- Laredo: Laredo Medical Center, 1 case
- Lubbock: University Medical Center, 1 case
- McAllen: South Texas Health System, 1 case
- Odessa: Medical Center Hospital, 1 case
- San Antonio: University Hospital System, 3 cases
- Tyler: Mother Frances Hospital, 1 case
- Waco: Providence Health Center, 1 case
