Drug-maker donates 600,000 doses for treatment of COVID-19 in NC hospitals
Six hundred thousand doses of a drug used to treat COVID-19 patients could be in North Carolina hospitals this weekend after a whirlwind effort by a pharmaceutical maker, state officials and two men from north Mecklenburg County.
This week the New Jersey-based Amneal Pharmaceuticals donated the drug hydroxychloroquine to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
“The donation is extremely important,” said Amanda Moore, pharmacist for the Division of Public Health. “Right now our state pharmacies are seeing almost complete back-order status, and they’re only able to get it in limited supply.”
She estimated that the donation could be worth as much as $500,000.
Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that some, including President Donald Trump, have touted as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Around 1,600 North Carolinians have contracted the disease, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. As of late Wednesday, 12 people have died.
The drug is used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, both auto-immune disorders. Last weekend the federal Food and Drug Administration issued an “emergency use authorization” to use the drug in treatment of COVID-19, though that does not mean the drug is clinically effective for the disease.
On Tuesday the FDA listed hydroxychloroquine as “currently in shortage.”
The Observer reported last week North Carolina’s Board of Pharmacy voted to limit dispensing of the drug after complaints of doctors “inappropriately prescribing medicine for themselves, their friends and their families.”
With no vaccine expected to be available until at least next year, clinical trials are underway of the drug’s efficacy with COVID-19. So far most of the verdicts have been anecdotal.
“This is a pandemic and doctors are trying multiple therapies and this is one,” Amneal’s co-CEO, Chirag Patel, told the Observer. “But there are many good stories. And right now we’re all looking for good stories.”
No ‘silver bullet’
Amneal has donated large quantities of the drug to other states including New York, Texas, Louisiana and Connecticut.
The North Carolina donation began with Bill Baugh, a Davidson resident and Distinguished Partner and COO of the Washington-based law firm Franklin Scott Conway, which works with Amneal. He talked to his friend, former Republican state Sen. Jeff Tarte of Cornelius. Tarte in turn talked to legislative leaders in Raleigh and officials at DHHS.
“We were able to make this come together in probably five days,” Baugh said Wednesday. “And we’ve been doing this all over the country. It’s not a silver bullet. But we felt the need to get it in places where it could do the most good.”
Tarte said the legislative leaders were able to cut through red tape and work with health officials in Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration.
“This is classic United States coming together as people, as human beings,” Tarte said. “Party politics never raised its head. (This was) everybody working together to get things done.”
In a statement, House Speaker Tim Moore said, “In these unprecedented times, it is great to see corporations and citizens stepping up to assist those in need.”
Side effects of hydroxychloroquine
Moore, the state pharmacist, said the drug can be used on people diagnosed with COVID-19 or who are suspected of having the disease.
She said DHHS will be sending the drug to hospitals, prisons and long term- and adult-care facilities this week. She cautions that the drug is not without its problems.
“The drug known to have a lot of drug interactions and side effects,” Moore said. “This is certainly not something I would consider a cure (for COVID-19).”
Dr. Michael Ackerman, a genetic cardiologist and director of Mayo Clinic’s Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory, said hydroxychloroquine can be fatal to some patients with underlying heart problems. The drug might be used safely in 90 percent of COVID-19 patients, he said, but could be risky to the other 10%.
“One of the things that we are sure of is the side effects of these drugs,” Ackerman told the Observer. That includes deadly effects for “the wrong person at the wrong time.”
With reports of lupus patients finding the drug hard to get, Moore said Amneal’s donation should relieve pressure on supplies of the drug for patients who depend on it.
“The benefit is that we will not be putting demand on the supply chain for (hospitals and other facilities),” she said, “and that will then make it easier for patients needing it for chronic conditions to get it.”
