After US President Donald Trump hailed Regeneron drug as life saver, covid patients are now asking to join clinical trials of antibody-based COVID-19 drug. President Trump posted a video on Wednesday saying that he was treated with an experimental therapy from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, and on Wednesday he promised to make it free to Americans while touting its benefits.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it has asked federal regulators to authorize its antibody treatment for Covid-19 for emergency use.

President Donald Trump received the antibody cocktail last Friday under a compassionate use program after becoming sick with the coronavirus.

Combination of two monoclonal antibodies

REGN-COV2 is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies and was designed specifically to block infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“To develop REGN-COV2, Regeneron scientists evaluated thousands of fully-human antibodies produced by the company’s VelocImmune® mice, which have been genetically modified to have a human immune system, as well as antibodies identified from humans who have recovered from COVID-19,” the pharma company statement said.

Late last month, Regeneron reported preliminary results from a trial showing that the cocktail could reduce virus levels in coronavirus patients outside of the hospital.

Free drug for Americans

In a statement, the company said that under its agreement with the U.S. government, if an emergency authorization is granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the government would make the initial doses available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution.

Regeneron said it currently has doses available for approximately 50,000 patients, and expects to have doses available for 300,000 patients within the next few months.

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