People are paying as much as $10,000 for an unlicensed remdesivir variant for their cats, in a thriving black market linked to Facebook groups

Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP via Getty Images; Ulrich Perrey/POOL/AFP via Getty Images; Ruobing Su/Business Insider

• A variant of remdesivir, one of the most promising treatments for COVID-19, has for more than a year been sold as a treatment for sick cats via a black market connected to big Facebook groups.
• The drug, called GS-441524, is being sold as a purported cure for Feline Infectious Peritonitis, which is caused by a coronavirus, the same family of pathogen that causes COVID-19 in humans. 
• Despite not being licensed as a treatment for FIP by the Food and Drugs Administration, the drug is being sold to US consumers by Chinese firms, with courses sold for up to $10,000.
• The transactions do not take place on Facebook's platform, but large cat owner groups have banded together to connect buyers to sellers, and attempt to screen the drug for purity.
• An academic who pioneered using the drug on cats says that a black market is the only option because pharma giant Gilead, which has the rights to GS, will not license it for use in cats.
• Critics say the unlicensed trade can lead to dangerous, low-quality drugs which could even find their way into human use.
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As the world seeks a way out the coronavirus crisis, there are hopes that the drug remdesivir may provide part of the solution.

The drug is already being used on seriously ill patients after being fast-tracked by medical authorities in the US, though supplies are limited and it may be some time before it becomes more widely available. 

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