President Donald Trump is promising the FDA will quickly authorize antibody treatments to help fight off Covid-19, highlighting his support for the experimental treatments as a vaccine increasingly seems unlikely before Election Day.
Trump is calling the monoclonal antibody treatment he received from Regeneron for his coronavirus infection a “cure,” vowing to make it freely available to all Americans stricken with the virus. However, there’s little data on the effectiveness of these treatments — which mimic the body’s natural defenses against infection — for Covid-19 patients, and there are likely to be shortages.
What the data shows: Regeneron has only released some preliminary data from one of its late-stage trials in which 275 people received the treatment. It showed that the treatment may reduce viral load and hasten recovery, but it’s not clear whether the drug reduces the risk of death. Eli Lilly, which also is conducting multiple late-stage trials on a similar treatment, has released partial findings from a study showing its therapy may reduce virus levels and possibly help with symptoms.