Pharmaceuticals

A large study of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been put on hold after one of the volunteers became ill.

This is the sixth vaccine candidate to join Operation Warp Speed's portfolio, and the largest vaccine deal to date.

Emergency use authorization makes it easier for doctors to use a drug in a manner not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA granted these drugs this status in March.

Experts say the Communist Party sees more at stake than public health. One of the biggest concerns is the economy. China is also looking to defuse criticism over its early handling of the outbreak.

An uproar followed comments by Sanofi's CEO that if the company develops a vaccine, doses would likely go to Americans first. The board president later insisted, "Any vaccine will be a public good."

Gilead Sciences is donating its initial supply of the experimental treatment for COVID-19. The federal government is deciding where the scarce medicine goes, and there are questions about the choices.

Gilead Sciences has committed to donating the initial supply of the experimental antiviral drug. But executives said the company will need to make expanded production of the treatment sustainable.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of remdesivir for patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Drugmaker Gilead Sciences' lobbying hit a new high in the first quarter.

Experts say it could be dangerous to rely on overseas production of medicine in a crisis, but the U.S. largely does. Rebuilding domestic capacity would take years and substantial investments.

Pharmaceutical companies GSK and Sanofi are partnering to work on several vaccine candidates to fight the coronavirus.

Chloroquine and hydroxycloroquine got the Food and Drug Administration's go-ahead to be put in the nation's strategic storehouses. But the drugs haven't been approved to treat coronavirus patients.

Gilead Science's remdesivir, an antiviral medicine being tested for treatment of COVID-19, would get a seven-year monopoly if approved by the Food and Drug Administration.