Regeneron CEO: Trump's success with antibody cocktail is not evidence of cure
11 October 2020
Dr. Leonard Schleifer, the founder and CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, said on Sunday that President Trump's successful treatment with the company's antibody cocktail is "the weakest evidence you can get" on whether the drug produces immunity or is a cure.
Driving the news: Since leaving Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is "immune" from COVID-19 and said he views the antibody cocktail as a "cure."
What they're saying: “The president’s case is a case of one, and that’s what we call a case report. And it is evidence, but it’s kind of the weakest evidence that you can get," Schleifer told CBS News' "Face the Nation."
- “[T]he real evidence about how good a drug is and what it will do on average has to come from these larger clinical trials, these larger randomized trials, which are the gold standard, and those are ongoing," he said.
- The president’s case is “just low down on the evidence scale that we really need," and while the drug does create immunity, "it's probably going to last you months," Schleifer added.
The bottom line: “Regeneron can’t do this alone. We need the entire industry. And I am so proud, the industry has risen,” Schleifer said.
What to watch: Regeneron and Eli Lilly, which is developing a similar therapy, have applied for an emergency use authorization from the FDA.
Go deeper: Ex-FDA chief says Trump "definitely missed the window" to mass produce antibody drug
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.