October 3, 2020 6:01:08 pm
President Donald Trump arrives at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday, October 2, 2020, in a Marine One helicopter after testing positive for COVID-19. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is second from the left. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)
US President Donald Trump began receiving an experimental antibody cocktail as part of his Covid-19 treatment.
What is this therapy?
REGN-COV2 is an investigational antibody cocktail that has shown a reduction in viral load and the time to relieve symptoms in outpatients, according to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, the firm that developed it.
The cocktail is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies, REGN10933 and REGN10987, designed “specifically” to block the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.
When did this appear and the research behind it?
The cocktail is undergoing a non-stop phase 1/2/3 clinical trial in the US The first phase has received 275 patients, while the second and third phases will enroll a total of 1,300 patients.
Trials of this drug began in June. More than 2,000 people have enrolled in the drug development program and the trial’s independent data monitoring committee has not reported any unexpected safety findings, according to the company.
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Who has tried it before?
In addition to this trial in outpatients, REGN-COV2 is currently being studied in a phase 2/3 clinical trial for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, according to Regeneron. It is also being studied in the UK inpatient phase 3 open-label RECOVERY trial and a phase 3 trial for the prevention of COVID-19 in household contacts of infected people. Recruitment in all 4 trials is ongoing.
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Does it work in combination with other medications?
Since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not granted the drug an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), it can be used as an experimental treatment for compassionate use. Since it is undergoing trials, there is no fixed combination of drugs with which this cocktail is administered.
Trump has been prescribed REGN-COV2 in combination with zinc, vitamin D and the generic version of the antacid Pepcid, according to The New York Times.
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