11 November 2020 - When President Trump received an infusion of a monoclonal antibody cocktail (REGN-COV2, Regeneron) on October 2, 2020, his physicians were presumably reacting to promising data reported in the company’s news release from 3 days earlier. 

The company had announced the results of a trial involving 275 individuals randomised 1:1:1 to placebo, low-dose monoclonal antibody treatment, or high-dose treatment.1 Per the news release, those patients with high viral loads and those who had not already mounted their own antibody response showed a greater decrease in viral load and time to resolution of symptoms.

Additional data on more important outcomes, including rates of hospitalisation, development of serious illness, and mortality were not available. It was not clear, although unlikely, if the study was powered to detect these outcomes.

Read JAMA Viewpoint