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The
president's physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said in a statement that
Trump "remains fatigued but in good spirits" after receiving an
intravenous dose of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc's dual
antibody. Trump was also taking immune system boosters zinc and
vitamin D, aspirin, and other generic drugs.
Trump, 74, walked to a helicopter on Friday before being moved
to a special suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for the next few days.
Regeneron's drug, REGN-COV2, is part of a class of experimental
COVID-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies: manufactured
copies of human antibodies to the virus that are being studied
for use in patients with early illness.
Trump's doctors "must be sufficiently concerned with what they
are seeing that they decided to use an experimental medicine ...
Experimental drugs are by definition risky," said Dr. Edward
Jones-Lopez, infectious disease specialist at the Keck School of
Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los
Angeles.
Antibodies are proteins made by the body's immune system that
latch onto and neutralize an invading virus. Regeneron's
cocktail - which contains an antibody made by the company and a
second isolated from humans who recovered from COVID-19 - is
designed so that its two antibodies bind to the coronavirus'
spike protein, limiting the ability of viruses to escape.
"The trouble is we don't have good treatments for people with
mild COVID-19 ... I imagine that they are doing this because
they hope this is relatively low risk," said Dr. Rajesh Gandhi,
an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston.
Data so far is limited for COVID-19 antibodies, but U.S.
infectious disease chief Dr. Anthony Fauci is among those saying
the technology has promise.
Regeneron this week reported trial results showing that its drug
improved symptoms in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients, with no
serious side effects, and said it planned to talk with the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) about an emergency use
authorization.
Eli Lilly & Co has also announced encouraging early data from a
trial of its coronavirus antibody, and said it is seeking
emergency authorization from the FDA.
Shares of Regeneron rose about 3% in after hours trade,
following the announcement that Trump was given the drug.
Trump is also taking the heartburn drug famotidine - often sold
in the U.S. under the brand name Pepcid. Although the drug has
not been shown to work against COVID-19, researchers are
studying it as a possible treatment.
Zinc and vitamin D are believed to boost the immune system.
Melatonin is a hormone that helps to regulate daily body
rhythms. Trump has said in the past that he takes a daily
low-dose aspirin, which is recommended for some adults at
increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley and Diane Bartz; Additional
reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Daniel
Wallis and Peter Henderson)
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