Letter to the Hon. Alex Azar, Secretary of the Dept. of Health and Human Services - An Accounting for American Taxpayers on Their Investment in Remdesivir Treatment for COVID 19

Letter

Dear Secretary Azar:

With recent announcements concerning preliminary NIAID clinical trial data on remdesivir and anticipated emergency use authorization from the FDA, we write concerning your plans to ensure this treatment is available and affordable to all and to obtain appropriate accounting of the taxpayers' investments in this drug.

Prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NIH spent nearly $700 million on coronavirus research. Congress has since appropriated over $6.5 billion for the research and development of therapeutics and vaccines. Taxpayers are often the angel investors in pharmaceutical research and development, yet this is not reflected in the prices they pay

To ensure patients and the federal government are not subject to price gouging, we respectfully ask that you provide a breakdown of expenditures and sources of funding which the federal government has spent on the research and development of remdesivir, as well as ongoing and future funding commitments. This information should include:

1. Grants to academic institutions who conducted research on remdesivir, including the names, dates, and amounts of funding.

2. Research and development conducted directly by the NIH and other federal agencies, including the names, dates, and amounts of funding.

3. Clinical trials conducted by the federal government or that have received federal financial assistance, including the names, dates, and amounts of funding.

4. A list of patents and patent applications, with their numbers, that the federal government owns or has licensed for remdesivir. For any patents or patent applications that have been licensed, please provide to whom, the dates, and the terms of the license.

5. Any federal expenditures to retrofit or build new Gilead facilities to scale-up production capacity of remdesivir, including the amounts, dates, and specific uses of those funds.

The global community has anxiously awaited the results of remdesivir's clinical trials, and the stock market has surged with yesterday's positive news. However, an unaffordable drug is completely ineffective. The substantial taxpayer investments in COVID-19 pharmaceutical research must be recognized.

We appreciate your attention to these important questions and stand ready to work with you to prevent any pandemic profiteering.

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