Fetal Tissue Research Trump Opposes Used To Develop Antibody Therapy He Praises As ‘Cure’

The Washington Post: Antibody Treatment Trump Touts Relied On Testing With Fetal Tissue He Opposes 
President Trump received an experimental antibody cocktail as part of a treatment regimen for covid-19 he has extolled as “miracles coming down from God,” even though its development relied on cells derived from human fetal tissue, a material his administration opposes. The effectiveness of the antibody therapy was tested by employing a fetal tissue cell line from the 1980s widely used in biomedical research, according to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, its manufacturer. The cell line is old enough that it would fall outside restrictions on federal funding of fetal tissue research the Trump administration imposed last year, according to National Institutes of Health guidelines. (Goldstein, 10/8)

The Guardian: Covid Drug Given To Trump Developed Using Cells Derived From Aborted Fetus
The stem cells used to develop the drug are known as HEK-293T cells, a line of cells used in laboratories. The cells were originally derived from an embryonic kidney after an elective abortion performed in the Netherlands in the 1970s. Trump has consistently sought to restrict abortion access, including most recently, when he nominated the conservative Catholic Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court last month. The anti-abortion movement is one of Trump’s most enthusiastic bases of support. (Glenza, 10/8)

CBS News: COVID Drug Trump Touted As A "Cure" Was Developed Using Cells Derived From Aborted Fetal Tissue
Last week, Mr. Trump received Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' cocktail of monoclonal antibodies, an experimental therapeutic for coronavirus that is still undergoing testing and is not FDA approved. In a nearly five-minute video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, the president lauded its effects, calling it "the key." "I think this was a blessing from God that I caught [the virus], I think it was a blessing in disguise," Mr. Trump said in the video. "I caught it, I heard about this drug, I said, 'Let me take it' … and it was incredible the way it worked." (Smith, 10/8)

The New York Times: Trump’s Covid Treatments Were Tested In Cells Derived From Fetal Tissue 
Some scientists saw a double standard in the president’s endorsement. “Hypocrisy has never bothered the man, as near as I can tell,” Lawrence Goldstein, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, who has used fetal tissue in his research, said of Mr. Trump. Dr. Deepak Srivastava, a pediatric cardiologist who led the International Society for Stem Cell Research until July, said, “If they oppose this research, they should be willing to not take a drug that was developed using that.” (Mandavilli and Holt, 10/8)

In related news about antibody treatments —

The Washington Post: Trump Pushes FDA To Quickly Clear Coronavirus Antibody Treatments, Erroneously Calling Them A ‘Cure’ 
President Trump and a top aide are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to quickly grant emergency clearance for a promising but unproven covid-19 therapy that the president received nearly a week ago and has credited with his rapid recovery, according to two senior administration officials. Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have called FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to urge him to accelerate the agency’s review of the drug, a cocktail of laboratory-made antibodies made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, according to the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the efforts. (Johnson, McGinley and Dawsey, 10/8)

NPR: FDA Weighs COVID-19 Antibody Drugs For Emergency Use 
President Trump continues to tout an experimental treatment he received for COVID-19 as a cure for the disease despite an absence of evidence to back up that claim. To be sure, some medical experts have high hopes that the kind of treatment Trump received could end up being an important element in the fight against the pandemic. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently told The Washington Post these antibody-based drugs are "a real best chance of being a game changer." But we aren't there yet. And there is no telling whether these medications are responsible for the president's apparent recovery. He received early and close medical attention, which included two other powerful medications that could also have played a significant role. (Harris, 10/8)

AP: Antibody Drugs Are No Cure But Seem Promising For COVID-19
They’re not cures and it’s not likely that everyone will be able to get them as President Donald Trump has suggested. But experimental antibody drugs like the one Trump was given are among the most promising therapies being tested for treating and preventing coronavirus infections. Eli Lilly and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. are asking the U.S. government to allow emergency use of their antibody drugs, which aim to help the immune system clear the virus. The medicines are still in testing; their safety and effectiveness are not yet known. (Marchione and Perrone, 10/8)

KHN: As Trump Touts His ‘Great’ COVID Drugs, The Pharma Cash Flows To Biden, Not Him 
Pharmaceutical giants Regeneron and Gilead Sciences got the kind of publicity money can’t buy this week after President Donald Trump took their experimental drugs for his coronavirus infection, left the hospital and pronounced himself fully recovered. “It was, like, unbelievable. I felt good immediately,” Trump said Wednesday in a tweeted video. “I call that a cure.” He praised Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody cocktail, which mimics elements of the immune system, and mentioned a similar drug under investigation by Eli Lilly and Co. The president also took Gilead’s remdesivir, an antiviral that has shortened recovery times for COVID-19 patients in early research. (Hancock, 10/9)