You’re probably aware that US President Donald Trump has Covid-19.
You also likely know that he’s undergoing some experimental treatment because he’s not as fine as he says he is.
But did you know his treatment came from Singapore?
Or, more specifically, did you know his treatment came from the bodies of people from Singapore?
An Experimental Drug
Trump is currently undergoing two different treatments.
The first is a five-day course of remdesivir, an experimental antiviral drug.
The second is an intravenous dose of “an experimental antibody cocktail”.
These antibodies, believe it or not, come from humans and mice.
See, when a Covid-19 patient recovers, they often develop protective antibodies which make them immune to a second infection.
One of the experimental treatments for Covid-19 patients involves using convalescent plasma developed from blood samples from these recovered patients to help others recover.
It’s still considered an experimental treatment, though the US Food and Drug Administration has authorized its use in emergencies.
Blood Samples From S’pore Used to Treat Donald Trump
And when the president of your country contracts the coronavirus, it’s certainly an emergency.
The problem with this convalescent plasma therapy is that it’s not easy to obtain blood from volunteers on a large scale.
This is why the developer of the antibody cocktail – US biotechnology company Regeneron – – cloned antibodies from both “humanized” mice and recovered Covid-19 patients to produce a reliable source of antibodies.
A humanized mouse is one that has been xenotransplanted with human cells or engineered to express human gene products.
As for the human plasma, it was developed using the blood samples of three Singapore patients, according to Asian Scientist.
The three patients were reportedly between the ages of 18 and 60.
The blood was supplied through an agreement with Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
Promising Trial Results
On 29 September 2020 (before Trump was tested positive), Regeneron announced positive data from a Phase 1 trial which monitored 275 patients.
Data showed that their antibody cocktail reduced viral levels and improved symptoms.
Trump, who received a high dose of the drug, left the Walter Reed Medical Centre on Monday (5 Oct) and returned to the White House.
The 74-year-old said he “feels better than he did 20 years ago”, but, then again, he says a lot of things.
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Conflicting reports and secrecy from the White House means that we may never get the full picture of how severe Trump’s infection is.
The president told his nation that there is nothing to fear, even though Covid-19 has claimed over 215,000 lives in the country.
If Trump does recover though, he has three Singapore patients to thank.
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