Tag Archives: monoclonal antibody treatment

When The Money Is More Important Than The Science

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The Covid pandemic taught us a lot of things. One of the things I learned was to do my own research as much as possible. I also became more cynical about the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (currently headed by Dr. Fauci). As you may remember, early in the Covid pandemic, Dr. Fauci played down the effectiveness of Ivermectin in treating the virus and limited the availability of monoclonal antibodies in some states. Dr. Fauci’s preferred treatment of Covid was a drug called Paxlovid, developed by Pfizer.

On Wednesday, PJ Media reported that Dr. Fauci had tested positive for Covid and taken Paxlovid.

The article reports:

On June 15, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. It was a long time coming since nearly everyone around him in the White House has tested positive at least once. In fact, the number of high-profile people with repeated infections is rising — former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Prince Charles, to name a few. Of course, what they all had in common was every single COVID jab available to them.

Fauci was no exception. When he provided an update on his condition during a conference call on June 23, he said, “I had one day of symptomatology. I started on Wednesday on Paxlovid. And I was on Paxlovid for five days. And I have now finished Paxlovid, and I am still feeling really quite fine.”

Then he gave the obligatory nod to the treatments he has advocated and even supported mandating for others. “I think I am an example, given my age, of what we’re all talking about today. I am vaccinated. I am doubly boosted. And I believe if that were not the case, I very likely would not be talking to you looking as well as I look, I think.” In reality, he has no way of knowing that, and there is no science to back it up. Still, seven days after a positive test, he appeared symptom-free and participated in a meeting.

Unfortunately Dr. Fauci suffered a rebound of Covid:

On June 28, in another interview, Fauci disclosed that he had a positive antigen test four days after finishing the course of Paxlovid. For the three days prior, his tests were negative. “So it was sort of what people are referring to as a Paxlovid rebound. Then over the next day or so, I started to feel really poorly. Much worse than in the first go around,” Fauci admitted. Then he shared he was back on Paxlovid since it worked so well the first time.

If Pavlovid had really worked all that well, he wouldn’t be sick and need it again.

The article notes:

Remember when President Trump took Regeneron MAs, walked off a helicopter, and returned to work two days later? Were there any news stories out of Florida about rebound infections, where infusion clinics dispensed MAs at high rates for weeks? At some point, there needs to be an inquiry about what happened to the MA program. It was the only FDA-EUA treatment that prevented severe illness in between 70% and 90% of high-risk patients through the delta wave. MAs were also effective at preventing COVID in people exposed to the virus. Paxlovid is not.

While no one should wish anything terrible on Dr. Fauci, it is important to remember how he loomed large in destroying the reputations and careers of doctors who advocated using existing drugs to treat viral replication, inflammation, and clotting. Some researchers and clinicians feel that restricting these treatments is a crime against humanity that caused thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Fauci also did not advocate for infusion centers and broad distribution of the effective MA treatment that was available last summer. Instead, we waited for a pill that doesn’t always work on the first pass, may be of no value to vaccinated Americans, and appears to be declining in efficacy because of how it works.

I am glad Dr. Fauci seems to be getting better, but what about the lies told to Americans during the pandemic? How safe is the vaccine? Does the vaccine actually work? Is the vaccine being given in America approved for other than emergency use? Why was Ivermectin trashed although it seemed to work? Why was the distribution of monoclonal antibodies limited when it was known to be an effective treatment? We will probably never know the answers to these questions because of the money behind the related decisions, but I hope the American people are now awake and realize that it is up to every individual to protect their own health–the government isn’t going to do it.

Playing Politics With Medicine

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Yesterday The Epoch Times reported that because of the Biden administration’s recent decision to ration monoclonal antibody treatments, the State of Alabama may run out of those treatments shortly.

The article reports:

The federal government’s sudden rationing of monoclonal antibody treatments, which keep Americans who get COVID-19 out of hospitals, is hitting Alabama hard, with some sites already running out of or projected to run out of supply soon.

The antibodies are highly successful at stemming the effects of COVID-19 when given to patients soon after they contract the disease, which is caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. But a huge jump in demand in recent weeks has left what some officials have described as a national shortage, triggering the federal government to intervene and start doling out what’s left.

Stringfellow and Regional Medical Center in Anniston didn’t have any of the antibodies left on Wednesday, according to Dr. Almena Free, vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer. Other facilities in Jefferson and Huntsville counties are struggling to source enough of the treatment, Dr. David Thrasher, a pulmonary critical care physician in Montgomery, said a day later.

“Some entities are very low on product and some project running out of product over the weekend,” Dr. Karen Landers, a health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, told The Epoch Times in an email on Friday.

The shortage is hitting at a critical time. Intensive care unit capacity is “beyond full,” Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s health officer, told reporters in a Sept. 16 virtual briefing. That means there are more people in the state that require critical care than there are beds to take care of them.

COVID-19 isn’t entirely to blame, as many patients don’t have the disease. But the monoclonal antibody (mAb) shortage will likely contribute to the issue. Some 70 percent of patients who get the treatment soon after their diagnosis don’t need hospital care, according to clinical studies and experts like Thrasher.

There was no reason for the federal government to insert itself into something that was working.

The article concludes:

Some suggested getting antibodies from GSK would prove too expensive.

“At this time we have not had any requests for it and it is quite costly,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health told The Epoch Times via email.

One course of treatment costs $2,100, a GSK spokesperson told The Epoch Times. That’s the same price per dose in Regeneron’s latest two contracts with the federal government. Eli Lilly’s is about the same.

The federal government has locked up hundreds of thousands of doses of the Regeneron and Eli Lilly medicines, and GSK’s is the only other monoclonal antibody treatment authorized for use at this time in the United States. U.S. drug regulators rejected an application for emergency use authorization for a fourth drug earlier this month.

Michigan and Alabama officials told The Epoch Times that hospitals and other providers can order directly from GSK if they wish. In the meantime, the states, like many others, are scrambling to try to redistribute supply to make sure there’s enough at each facility.

I am reminded of the following quote:

“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman

This Is What Leadership Looks Like

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Because he was concerned about the limited supply of monoclonal antibodies, President Biden announced that he was going to ‘redirect’ some of that supply away from the southern states (which happen to be ‘red’ states) to other parts of the country (areas which happen to be ‘blue’ states). I know that the political leanings of the states involved are simply an incredible coincidence, but meanwhile, people will die. Well, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Governor DeSantis of Florida has reacted properly.

The Daily Wire reported the following yesterday:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that he was “very, very concerned” with Democrat President Joe Biden’s decision to restrict the distribution of monoclonal antibodies to states amid a surge in demand by states in the South.

“Just last week on September 9th, President Joe Biden said that his administration would be increasing shipments of monoclonal antibodies in September by 50%, and yet on September 13th, HHS announced that it was seizing control of the monoclonal antibody supply and that it would control distribution, and then on September 14th, the announcement was more than 50% of the monoclonal antibodies that had been used in Florida were going to be reduced,” DeSantis said. “So this is a dramatic reduction, and I’d say it’s doubly problematic because what Shane Strum and folks in Tampa General and these other hospital systems that have been doing this, they’re not getting it from the state.”

…DeSantis said that he is going to “work like hell to make sure” that Florida “can overcome the obstacles that HHS and the Biden administration” are imposing on the state, adding that the treatment has saved lives in the state.

“To just kind of pull the rug out from anyone a week after the president himself said they were going to be increasing the distributions by 50%, it’s very, very problematic,” DeSantis said. “What I am doing though, is we’re going to try to cover the bases.”

DeSantis stated that he had a call yesterday with GlaxoSmithKline executives and he thinks that Florida is going to be able to order their new monoclonal antibody directly from the company so he won’t have to deal with Biden’s restriction on the life-saving treatment.

It is disgusting that the Biden administration would play politics with people’s lives. I hope that Governor DeSantis is able to work directly with the company to help save the lives of Florida’s citizens.

The Correct Response

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There is a new outbreak of the coronavirus. It involves the ‘delta’ variant, and possibly will eventually involve the ‘lambda’ variant. Governor DeSantis of Florida has reacted quickly to the new threat and should serve as an example to other governors.

On Thursday The Epoch Times posted an article about Governor DeSantis’ response to the new outbreak of the coronavirus.

The article reports:

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Aug. 12 that he is launching a Rapid Response Team to dispense monoclonal antibodies to tackle Florida’s rising number of COVID-19 cases and reduce serious symptoms, preventing the potential for hospital overcrowding.

“This is probably the best thing that we can do to reduce the number of people that require hospitalization,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Jacksonville, adding that vaccines were strongly encouraged and were effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths by at least 70 percent.

“Clear benefits to this early treatment is keeping people out of the hospital and reducing mortality,” he said.

DeSantis noted the experimental monoclonal antibodies developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals were used by President Donald Trump after he contracted the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, in October 2020. Trump recovered in a matter of days.

A study released in April showed Regeneron’s antibody cocktail helped people recover faster after falling ill, and when given in the early stages, could prevent people from becoming sick with the virus.

Monoclonal antibody treatment is not well known, according to the governor, because it received federal emergency use authorization around the same time as the vaccines were being approved, and that the “focus rightfully was on vaccines at the time.” He said he felt that it was important to utilize this treatment alongside vaccines, and it was, in his opinion, “the most effective yet for people who are already infected.”

The monoclonal antibody treatment has the same federal emergency use authorization that the vaccine has. The Governor’s quick reaction to the recent spread of the coronavirus will probably save lives.