To: All NJVMA Members
From: Dr. Jennifer Kim, NJVMA President
I know many of you are excited that GS-441524 will be available through Stokes Pharmacy to treat FIP. It will be an oral tablet and more information is available on their website including cost.
In the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery in April 2019 this paper was published that showed 25 of 31 cats with FIP lived long term when treated with GS-441524. It also showed that the drug was safe and effective. Even before this paper was published the cat world has been excited about the potential for a treatment for FIP. It has been used in the US through various avenues, mostly not legal. Since this first paper there have been 3 additional clinical papers that substantiate the initial findings.
Questions on the legality of GS-441524 being prescribed are appropriate. The FDA wrote this statement warning veterinarians that as of the time of the statement (May 10, 2024) that this drug had not been nominated for justification of use. However, in the following week there were 3 nominations placed and can be found here. In that statement, the FDA also wrote: “However, in GFI#256, the FDA has described certain conditions where the agency does not intend to take enforcement actions for compounded products for use in animals.” This means that the FDA will not federally enforce the use of GS-441524 at this time. Please note that different states will have different rules. As it stands right now there are no restrictions for this drug in NJ for both directly prescribed and hospital use.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to NJVMA or Stokes Pharmacy.
There are three papers related to this:
Coggins SJ, Norris JM, Malik R, Govendir M, Hall EJ, Kimble B, Thompson MF. Outcomes of treatment of cats with feline infectious peritonitis using parenterally administered remdesivir, with or without transition to orally administered GS-441524. J Vet Intern Med. 2023 Sep-Oct;37(5):1772-1783. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16803. Epub 2023 Jul 13. PMID: 37439383; PMCID: PMC10473006. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37439383/
Krentz D, Zenger K, Alberer M, Felten S, Bergmann M, Dorsch R, Matiasek K, Kolberg L, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli ML, Spiri AM, Horak J, Weber S, Holicki CM, Groschup MH, Zablotski Y, Lescrinier E, Koletzko B, von Both U, Hartmann K. Curing Cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis with an Oral Multi-Component Drug Containing GS-441524. Viruses. 2021 Nov 5;13(11):2228. doi: 10.3390/v13112228. PMID: 34835034; PMCID: PMC8621566. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34835034/
Taylor SS, Coggins S, Barker EN, Gunn-Moore D, Jeevaratnam K, Norris JM, Hughes D, Stacey E, MacFarlane L, O’Brien C, Korman R, McLauchlan G, Salord Torres X, Taylor A, Bongers J, Espada Castro L, Foreman M, McMurrough J, Thomas B, Royaux E, Calvo Saiz I, Bertoldi G, Harlos C, Work M, Prior C, Sorrell S, Malik R, Tasker S. Retrospective study and outcome of 307 cats with feline infectious peritonitis treated with legally sourced veterinary compounded preparations of remdesivir and GS-441524 (2020-2022). J Feline Med Surg. 2023 Sep;25(9):1098612X231194460. doi: 10.1177/1098612X231194460. PMID: 37732386; PMCID: PMC10812036. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37732386/
