WEBVTT - Demand for Monoclonal Antibody Treatments Has Skyrocketed

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, September two. I'm Oscar Ramrrors from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>We have seen the demand for COVID nineteen monoclonal antibody

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<v Speaker 1>treatments skyrocket in the last few weeks. Some states have

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<v Speaker 1>set up infusion centers where patients can get the treatment

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<v Speaker 1>and are also passing rules where you can get it

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<v Speaker 1>without a doctor's prescription. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA

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<v Speaker 1>Today joins us for how this underutilized treatment is gaining traction.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Karen, Thanks for having me. I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to talk about monoclonal antibody treatments right now. The

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<v Speaker 1>demand for them is skyrocketing. We've seen Republican governors in Florida, Missouri,

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<v Speaker 1>Texas touting them and saying that they're available to people,

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<v Speaker 1>even opening up these infusion centers so you know, you

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<v Speaker 1>don't have to necessarily go to a hospital. You can

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<v Speaker 1>go to one of these other places to get these treatments.

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<v Speaker 1>But even Dr Fauci said these are very underutilized treatments

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<v Speaker 1>for people that have COVID. So Karen tell us a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit about them and then and how they're exploding

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<v Speaker 1>right now. So there are very effective treatment for people

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<v Speaker 1>in the earliest days of a COVID infection who are

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<v Speaker 1>at high risk. So somebody who is over sixty five,

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<v Speaker 1>who's obese, who is diabetic, who has autoimmune issues, all

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<v Speaker 1>of those categories of people are considered at high risk

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<v Speaker 1>for a serious infection with COVID nineteen. If they get

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<v Speaker 1>these drugs within generally about three or four days after

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<v Speaker 1>their first diagnosed or they have developed symptoms, it reduces

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<v Speaker 1>their risk of hospitalization and death by at least seventy

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<v Speaker 1>which is a lot obviously, so they're very effective. They

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<v Speaker 1>have minimal side effects. The issue is they're difficult to deliver. Generally,

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<v Speaker 1>they're delivered via infusion. It takes about a half hour

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<v Speaker 1>of sitting with a drift going into your arm, and

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<v Speaker 1>then they have to watch you for an hour to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure you don't have a bad reaction. Because people

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<v Speaker 1>who are getting these are highly contagious, it can't get

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<v Speaker 1>them in a typical infusion center where you might go

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<v Speaker 1>if you are on dialysis, for instance, or on getting

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<v Speaker 1>cancer care. You obviously don't want to mix people with

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<v Speaker 1>with those can Asians with people who are contagious with COVID,

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<v Speaker 1>so they need separate facilities, and some of them are

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<v Speaker 1>in hospital parking lots. Some of them, as you said,

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<v Speaker 1>are in especially designed clinics. But that's been a challenge

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<v Speaker 1>for some hospitals and medical facilities to set up these

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<v Speaker 1>infusion centers. And what drugs are we talking about here?

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<v Speaker 1>I know regeneration is one of them. That's the one

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<v Speaker 1>that President Trump was receiving when he had COVID. Texas

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<v Speaker 1>Governor Greg Abbott he was receiving the regeneration as well.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's another one too, and UH cannot pronounce it

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<v Speaker 1>for the life of me. The regeneral on drug is

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<v Speaker 1>called regim dash cove and the other one so Trova

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<v Speaker 1>MAB that anything that ends in the letters m AB

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<v Speaker 1>is that's for monoclonal antibody. So the ones there, there

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<v Speaker 1>are three that are approved for COVID, but the one

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<v Speaker 1>made by Lily unfortunately no longer works against the delta variants,

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<v Speaker 1>so that one has been is not being distributed anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>So the regenera on one is the one that you're

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<v Speaker 1>likely to get if you go to a clinic or hospital.

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<v Speaker 1>At the moment, that's the vast majority of it once

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<v Speaker 1>being distributed now from that company. And what kind of

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<v Speaker 1>numbers are we seeing Because you mentioned the article that

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<v Speaker 1>a typical week in June, monoclon anybodies were given in

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<v Speaker 1>about ten people, and this was across the entire Houston

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<v Speaker 1>metropolitan area. This past week, I guess patients were getting

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<v Speaker 1>it in that same area, right, I thought that was

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<v Speaker 1>astounding that number. Um, that's what they told me at

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<v Speaker 1>Houston Methodist Hospital, and then nationally where General sent out

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<v Speaker 1>about twenty five thousand doses a week just a month

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<v Speaker 1>ago and this week the hundred and sixty eight thousand doses.

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<v Speaker 1>So demand really is increasing substantially. Unfortunately, because so many

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<v Speaker 1>people are getting sick with COVID the surge, especially with

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<v Speaker 1>the delta variant, a lot of people are getting sick

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<v Speaker 1>and also people at high risk for serious disease. And

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<v Speaker 1>because of the experience that doctors had during the last

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<v Speaker 1>surge and saw that these monocle land of bodies were helpful,

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<v Speaker 1>they're turning to the more eagerly now, I guess, I

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<v Speaker 1>would say because of that success. And there's a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of interesting actions taken in some of these states as

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<v Speaker 1>well where I guess a surgeon general in Florida said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>you don't even need a doctor's recommendation to take is

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<v Speaker 1>if you're sick or you feel like you're getting sick,

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<v Speaker 1>go to an infusion center and we can treat you

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<v Speaker 1>with this now. And I guess because we've up you

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<v Speaker 1>paid for a lot of these up front, it is

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<v Speaker 1>still free to a lot of people. It should be free. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>they cost about a dose, but the government prepurchased over

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<v Speaker 1>a million and a half of these doses and there's

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<v Speaker 1>still many available. The benefit is much greater for somebody

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<v Speaker 1>who is at higher risk again, somebody who's over sixty five,

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<v Speaker 1>who's a beast diabetic, i mean know, compromised, than it

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<v Speaker 1>is to an otherwise healthy person who is very unlikely

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<v Speaker 1>to end up hospitalized anyway. So generally they are recommended

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<v Speaker 1>for people who have some extra risk. Yeah, definitely, And

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<v Speaker 1>and and all of these monoclone anybody's have been approved

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<v Speaker 1>under emergency use authorization, so they haven't received full approval

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<v Speaker 1>yet either, right. Yeah. The doctor in Houston was sort

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<v Speaker 1>of laughing about the idea that a lot of the

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<v Speaker 1>people he's treating now monoclona anibodies didn't want vaccines because

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<v Speaker 1>they were approved only emergency under an emergency use authorization.

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<v Speaker 1>But now they're they're begging for a monocle goals, which

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<v Speaker 1>are also approved only under an emergency use authorization. Karen,

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to ask because I follow you on Twitter

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<v Speaker 1>and I saw you had recently went on a vacation

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<v Speaker 1>and it was kind of ruined by a bad test,

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<v Speaker 1>a bad COVID test where you and I think your

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<v Speaker 1>parents said that you were tested positive and then later

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<v Speaker 1>on you got a PCR test and it came out negative.

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<v Speaker 1>So not to name any companies or anything, but how

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<v Speaker 1>did that experience go? Because we had for a long

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<v Speaker 1>time been hearing you know that some of these quick

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<v Speaker 1>tests aren't always as reliable. They're supposed to be very good.

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<v Speaker 1>In this case, we got caught on the wrong end

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<v Speaker 1>of the statistics. I guess this particular test has a

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<v Speaker 1>three or four percent failure rate. Shouldn't happen to three

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<v Speaker 1>of us in the same batch of tests. The company

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<v Speaker 1>has told me that they're checking the batch to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure there's not something wrong with it. But yes, I

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<v Speaker 1>have an eighty six year old high risk father, so

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<v Speaker 1>when I wasn't feeling well. I got a quick test

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure I didn't have a problem. When it

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<v Speaker 1>was positive, we all kind of freaked out. Father and

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<v Speaker 1>mother went to the hospital to get Monacola antibodies actually,

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<v Speaker 1>and there they were retested appropriately and we're told they

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<v Speaker 1>did not, in fact have COVID. By that point, I

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<v Speaker 1>was already five hours into my six hour trip home.

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<v Speaker 1>Um and uh so, yeah, um so. I retested, got

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<v Speaker 1>another different brand rapid test that night, and then got

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<v Speaker 1>a PCR the next day, also negative. My brother, who

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<v Speaker 1>had been with us to day before, spent a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money changing his flight back to the West Coast,

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<v Speaker 1>so it was to avoid contaminating anyone in case he

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<v Speaker 1>got sick. So it was a lot of chaos created

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<v Speaker 1>from from a false positive. It's better clinically speaking, health

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<v Speaker 1>wise to get a false positive and a false negative.

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<v Speaker 1>False negative means you're contagious and you don't know it,

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<v Speaker 1>and you might go out and infect other people. So

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<v Speaker 1>that's worse from the societal perspective, but it definitely ruined

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<v Speaker 1>my family vacation. Well, glad to hear everybody was healthy

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<v Speaker 1>at least on all of that. Karen Weintraub Health reporter

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<v Speaker 1>at USA Today. Thank you very much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you. I'm Oscar Romiris and this has been reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't forget at effort today's big news stories. You can

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<v Speaker 1>check me out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday

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