FDA authroizes emergency use of Regeneron antibody treatment given to Trump
22 November 2020
The Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday evening it has granted emergency use authorization for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' antibody cocktail given to President Trump to treat his COVID-19 infection last month.
Why it matters: Regeneron's two monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, are for people who tested positive for the coronavirus and "who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19," including people who are 65 and older, and/or people with certain chronic illnesses, per an FDA statement.
Of note: "The safety and effectiveness of this investigational therapy for use in the treatment of COVID-19 continues to be evaluated," the FDA said.
Driving the news: A clinical trial of patients with COVID-19 found that when the two antibodies were administered together, they "were shown to reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression within 28 days after treatment when compared to placebo," the FDA said.
What to expect: Regeneron said in a statement it expects to have doses of the treatment, called REGEN-COV2, ready for some 80,000 patients by the end of November, about 200,000 patients by the first week of January, and approximately 300,000 patients in total by the end of January 2021.
Go deeper: Regeneron CEO: Trump's success with antibody cocktail is not evidence of cure
Editor's note: This a breaking news story. Please check back for updates
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.