- Patients are asking to join clinical trials of antibody-based COVID-19 drugs after U.S. President Donald Trump was treated last week with an experimental therapy from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc , and on Wednesday he promised to make it free to Americans while touting its benefits.
According to his doctor, blood tests on Monday detected infection-fighting antibodies, which a Regeneron spokesperson said were probably from the treatment. Regeneron's drug is a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies - manufactured copies of antibodies that are one of the main weapons the immune system generates to fight infections.
Dr. Dirk Sostman, head of the research network at Houston Methodist Hospital, a trial site for Regeneron and Eli Lilly & Co antibody programs, said more patients are asking to participate in an antibody trial."All we have seen are very brief press releases ... so there is not much to go on," he said.
Doctors emphasized that the timeline for Trump's illness was not entirely clear."If he is responding at a pace where he is truly much better, it is going to be due to the antibodies," said Dr. Edward Jones-Lopez, infectious disease specialist at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.
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