The Truth About Trump's Covid-19 Cocktail ‘Cure’
The antibody treatments the president is touting aren’t established as a surefire remedy, aren’t yet widely available and won’t necessarily be free.
Donald Trump’s hyping of Covid-19 antibody treatments may make it harder to get the most out of them.
Photographer: Ken Cedeno/Bloomberg
President Donald Trump is all-in on antibody treatments — medicines that can mimic the body’s response to infection, including Covid-19. After receiving an experimental dual-antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. last week to treat the case of coronavirus he contracted, he is claiming that the drug and a similar medicine from Eli Lilly & Co. cure the disease and will soon be widely available to Americans for free. “I want to get for you what I got. And I’m going to make it free,” Trump told viewers in a video he tweeted. “It’s a cure.” The reality is more complicated.
These drugs are promising and may serve as a valuable bridge to vaccines. Both Regeneron and Lilly have requested emergency use authorizations of their medications based on small studies, and the Food and Drug Administration will face pressure to say yes. However, the president is exaggerating their benefit and likely availability. What’s more, his hype and rush to push antibodies out will make it harder to get the most out of them.