The watchdog group Public Citizen has accused pharmaceutical giant Gilead of putting profit ahead of public health as it works to develop a treatment for the coronavirus. Public Citizen says Gilead has focused on promoting remdesivir as a possible treatment, instead of a related drug that may be more effective and easier to manufacture, because Gilead’s patent on remdesivir is five years longer.

Dr. Michael Abrams of Public Citizen said, “It is sadly predictable that Big Pharma responds to a global pandemic by trying to bring to market only those drugs that maximize its profits.” Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson has reached a $1 billion deal with the U.S. to make 100 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine still being tested.