Regeneron has submitted its experimental COVID-19 antibody treatment to the FDA for emergency use authorization, the drugmaker announced Oct. 7.
The therapy, called REGN-COV2, combines two monoclonal antibodies that can prevent the novel coronavirus from replicating. One antibody goes after the virus' spike protein, which attacks healthy cells, and the other antibody targets the rest of the virus.
The antibody cocktail still is being tested in clinical trials but is available for compassionate use, meaning the FDA decides if patients can be treated with it on a case-by-case basis. The FDA allowed the treatment to be administered to President Donald Trump Oct. 2 after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.
"Under our agreement with the U.S. government for the initial doses of REGN-COV2, if an EUA is granted the government has committed to making these doses available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution," according to a statement from Regeneron. "At this time, there are doses available for approximately 50,000 patients, and we expect to have doses available for 300,000 patients in total within the next few months."