Pfizer, Gilead Strike Multiyear Partnership To Manufacture COVID-19 Drug Remdesivir

Large-cap biopharma companies Pfizer Inc. PFE and Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD announced a deal Friday for GIlead's remdesivir, which has been accorded emergency use authorization by the FDA for treating COVID-19.

The Pfizer-Gilead Partnership: Pfizer said it has entered a multiyear agreement with Gilead to manufacture and supply Gilead's investigational antiviral remdesivir, as it joins a host of companies lending a helping hand to scale up the supply of coronavirus drugs. 

The agreement calls for Pfizer to provide contract manufacturing services at its McPherson, Kansas facility to manufacture and supply remdesivir.

The partnership is in line with a five-point plan Pfizer announced in May that calls on biopharma and biotech companies, government agencies and academia to work together to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.

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Why It's Important: Pfizer's finance, manpower, expertise and know-how should come in handy for manufacturing the antiviral drug at scale.

"As one of the largest manufacturers of vaccines, biologics and sterile injectables, it is a privilege to offer our expertise and infrastructure to help fight this pandemic. In that spirit, we are pleased that Gilead is using our manufacturing capacity to help facilitate supply of this medicine to patients as quickly as possible," Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO, said in a statement. 

Gilead said Thursday that it has expanded its global network of internal manufacturing sites and external organizations, including partnering with industry peers, to add manufacturing capacity for remdesivir globally. The drug's trade name is Veklury. 

"Our Veklury manufacturing network now includes more than 40 companies in North America, Europe and Asia," according to Gilead. 

PFE, GILD Price Action: At last check, Pfizer shares were trading down slightly at $38.26, while Gilead shares were up 0.66% at $69.26.