Trump just got a dose of Regeneron’s unapproved antibody drug for covid

At 74 and overweight, the president is at higher risk for serious illness.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, tested positive for covid-19 and within 24 hours had received an experimental, cutting-edge antibody treatment not available to other Americans.

In a statement released Friday, the White House said Trump had received “a single 8-gram dose” of the biotech treatment, which belongs to a promising new class of antiviral drugs.

The president “remains fatigued but in good spirits” after getting the emergency infusion, according to White House doctor Sean Conley. “He’s being evaluated by a team of experts, and together we’ll be making recommendations to the president and first lady in regards to best next steps.”

Trump and his wife, who also tested positive, were certain to have access to the best medical care the country can provide, including experimental drugs not available to others.

The White House said the president had received an IV infusion of a cocktail of antibodies manufactured by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, of Tarrytown, New York. That treatment is essentially a way to mimic a powerful immune response in order to ward off a serious case of covid-19.

Because he is overweight and 74 years old, the president is at higher than average risk for developing a serious case of the disease. And the chance of death for someone like him is not small—it's at least 5%, about 100 times as great for him as for someone under 30.

Trump’s doctors immediately had to make some tough decisions in deciding what drugs to give him. For one thing, they had to assess medical evidence that’s been consistently clouded by the White House itself and treat a patient who has shown interest in hokum treatments like bleach, second-guessed medical authorities, and even given a bullhorn to a doctor who believes in witchcraft.

The president has “mild symptoms,” according to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows. It usually takes several days before more serious covid-19 symptoms manifest, if they do. As long Trump isn’t in the hospital, he would be classified as a lower-risk “outpatient.”

For nearly any other American, that would mean being told to wait and see how the symptoms develop, because there aren’t any covid-19 drugs approved for outpatients. Two treatments, blood plasma and the antiviral drug remdesivir, did receive emergency approval, but only for people who are hospitalized.

[link to www.technologyreview.com (secure)]