President Donald Trump has received at least eight different medicines and supplements since he was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Several are new and approved under emergency or compassionate use orders, including Regeneron's antibody cocktail. It uses lab-created COVID-19 antibodies to boost the immune response.
A late stage trial that has not been peer-reviewed yet suggests the cocktail is safe and appeared to reduce symptoms.
“None of the other medicines that he's been given, whether it's Remdesivir, more recently, dexamethasone, none of them have actually been shown to have direct antiviral activity, that is, they don't lower the virus levels directly,” said Dr. George Yancopoulos, a founding scientist at Regeneron.
Yancopoulos says they're getting more requests, but “compassionate use” is not intended for widespread distribution. The Food and Drug Administration would have to grant emergency use authorization
“And as of course, we all know, when you're fighting a viral disease and it's a race between the virus taking over and your body beating it, and dropping viral levels would be a great indicator that that the battle is going in the right direction and that the patient is winning,” said Yancopoulos.
The president also took a steroid called dexamethasone. It's used to treat inflammation and is proven to help people breathe when they need oxygen.
“For patients who were hospitalized or getting oxygen, it was extremely effective in helping them walk out of the hospital under their own powers,” said Peter Pitts, President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.
Meanwhile first lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive, tweeted Monday that she is feeling good and will continue to rest at home.