BATON ROUGE - Governor Edwards said Friday that Louisiana received more supplies of the experimental drug said to help coronavirus patients recover faster.

The governor announced during his Friday news conference that the state had received its third shipment of Remdesivir. In total, the state has been allocated more than 8,000 vials of the drug. 

Louisiana has received three allocations of Remdesivir from the @US_FDA, which is has allocated to hospitals treating #COVID19 patients. So far we have received:

?? 1200 vials
?? 3366 vials
?? 3828 vials

— Christina “MASK UP” Stephens (@CEStephens) May 22, 2020

Earlier this month, the federal government approved emergency use of the drug on COVID-19 patients. Studies showed those given the drug were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average versus 15 days for other patients.

Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge has also partnered with the manufacturer, Gilead Sciences, to provide the drug to some of its patients.