MANILA, Philippines — New stocks of COVID-19 investigational drugs remdesivir and tocilizumab are scheduled to arrive in the country this March, treatment czar Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said Friday.
Vega said in an online press briefing that the Department of Health (DOH) has already communicated with the distributors of tocilizumab and remdesivir.
“They mentioned in a letter formally that the stock will be arriving this March. It is coming. New stocks are coming by March, so we can definitely access that,” he said.
This comes after the DOH said Thursday that the current stocks of the two drugs in the country are running low due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
READ: Stocks of remdesivir, tocilizumab in PH running low – DOH
The DOH earlier vowed to provide P5 million funding to each DOH hospital in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon to ensure an unhampered supply of COVID-19 therapeutics.
“With the necessary allocation given to different hospitals, they can now procure or purchase these medicines for their patients this March,” said Vega.