Commotion: Trump Promotes Regeneron
The Claim
A viable treatment for COVID-19 has been made by the pharmaceutical company Regeneron.
News posted on
Emerging story
Following President Trump’s diagnosis of COVID-19 and subsequent hospitalization at the Walter Reed Medical Center, he received an experimental drug treatment in addition to the usual therapy for the disease. This medication has apparently been effective, as on October 7, 2020 physicians from the White House reported that Trump has not experienced any symptoms for the past 24 hours. As part of his treatment, Trump received a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies named REGN-COV2. He also received doses of Remdesivir (an antiviral medication) and Dexamethasone (a steroid). Many on social media discussed the drug and its potential use as a COVID-19 cure.
Misbar’s Analysis
In a video published to his Twitter account on October 7th, Trump singled out Regeneron as the cause for his rapid recovery. He went on to announce that the drug will soon be available for free at hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. “It made me feel better, I call that a cure,” he stated, later calling his diagnosis of COVID-19 “a blessing from God.”
Regeneron signed a $450 million contract with the U.S. government in July and has been developing clinical trials to test treatments for COVID-19 since. The CEO of Regeneron, Leonard Schleifer, and Trump are personal acquaintances (Schleifer has frequented Trump’s golf courses). Some in the media have pointed out that Trump holds shares in Regeneron, and thus the endorsement may represent a conflict of interests.
As of right now, Regeneron’s antibody treatment is still in the clinical stage.
President Trump was unclear on exactly when the drug would be made available, but he did specify that the U.S. military would be overseeing its distribution. It is unclear where this trail will lead, or if President Trump has any underlying motives for promoting Regeneron, so we at Misbar have labeled this commotion.
We will continue to cover Regeneron and its potentially game-changing medication.
