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FDA approves therapeutic drug that was given to President Trump
Justin Matthews reports
TAMPA, Fla. - The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization over the weekend for an antibody therapy by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
It is the same therapy that was used on President Trump while he was in the hospital fighting COVID-19.
The FDA says it should be used on adults and children soon after testing positive for COVID-19, who have a high risk of developing severe symptoms.
Regeneron calls it an "antibody cocktail," where they administer an antibody made by the pharmaceutical company with an antibody developed by humans through an IV.
"Your body willy-nilly produces antibodies to every new virus that comes in because they're all different, they all have different structures and everything, and then it'll produce antibodies that'll bind all around that virus, and a lot of them probably do nothing at all, but the idea is to hit that one that really works," said Dr. Thomas Unnasch, a professor of public health at the University of South Florida's Infectious Disease Research Center. "If it hits that one that really works, then it neutralizes the virus and you don't get sick."
Regeneron says the antibody therapy should be available to 80,000 patients by the end of the month. Then by the end of January, the company's goal is to have it available to as many as 300,000 patients.