Donald Trump is being treated with an experimental antibody drug that has shown promising initial early results but has yet to be peer-reviewed. According to statement from his doctor, the president has received a single eight-gram dose of an antibody cocktail called REGN-COV2 – a combination of two human neutralising antibodies against the virus. The treatment was developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which previously developed a similar antibody drug against Ebola. He is also taking zinc, vitamin D, melatonin, aspirin and the heartburn drug famotidine – often sold in the US under the brand name Pepcid. Although the drug has not been shown to work against coronavirus, researchers are studying it as a possible treatment. REGN-COV2 is part of a class of experimental Covid-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies: manufactured copies of human antibodies to the virus that are being studied for use in patients with early illness. Data so far is limited, but the White House coronavirus adviser Anthony Fauci is among those saying it has shown promise. In a press release earlier this week, Regeneron said the early trial results showed that treatment reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalised Covid-19 patients. But doctors have said that the president has numerous health factors placing him at risk of complications from Covid-19, including his age and weight. The White House announced on Friday that the 74-year-old president would be moved to the Walter Reed hospital in Washington DC “out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts”. Both Trump and his wife Melania were earlier described as displaying “mild symptoms” after testing positive. While doctors expect symptoms such as headache, fever and loss of taste to emerge in the first week of infection, it is in the second week when patients can go dangerously downhill as the virus spreads to the lungs and causes problems with breathing. As an older man, Trump is already in a high-risk group and being borderline obese raises the risk further. Figures from around the world suggest the so-called infection fatality rate for someone in their mid-70s is about 4%, but men are nearly twice as likely to die as women and being obese triples the risk of hospital admission. Trump’s positive test adds to a wealth of evidence that hydroxychloroquine, a drug he said he was taking earlier in the year, does not prevent Covid-19, but over the past nine months clinical trials have found beneficial treatments. Fever and headache can be helped with paracetamol. Throughout the course of the infection doctors will monitor Trump’s vital signs and blood oxygen saturation, which reveals how the lungs are functioning. Other treatments are normally reserved for patients in hospital, but remdesivir, an antiviral drug, is thought to be most effective when given early, while the virus is still replicating. US doctors have raised fresh concerns over Trump’s high
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