DeSantis pushes it as feds pay
While governor touts free Regeneron, the bill is being picked up in Washington
Much of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to offer free monoclonal antibody treatment to Floridians sick with COVID-19 is being paid for by the federal government, which has spent billions of dollars on the drug cocktail made by Regeneron.
DeSantis has been crisscrossing Florida to promote clinics from Orlando to Pembroke Pines offering the treatment.
One of his big selling points: The drug is free to patients with no out-of-pocket costs.
That wouldn’t be possible without the help of the federal government, which is also promoting the use of monoclonal antibodies in states hit hard by the virus while stressing vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19. Vaccines are also available to Floridians for free.
On Jan. 12, the federal government purchased 1.25 million doses of the antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., bringing its stockpile to more than 1.5 million doses.
That deal, signed just days before former President Donald Trump left office, was valued at $2.625 billion or about $2,100 a dose, government purchasing records show. Trump received Regeneron’s antibody treatment when he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October.
As COVID-19 hospitalizations soar in Florida, DeSantis is championing Regeneron’s antibody cocktail as the “best option” available to people infected with COVID-19. Orlando’s treatment site at Camping World Stadium is capable of serving more than 300 patients a day.
“If you are in one of these high-risk groups, just know you have the ability to bring some serious ammunition to the fight here with these antibodies . ... It is turbocharging their immune system,” DeSantis said Wednesday in Pembroke Pines in South Florida.
Monoclonal antibodies are proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight the COVID-19 virus, helping to keep highrisk patients from getting so sick they need to be admitted to the hospital. The antibodies are most effective if given early in a COVID19 infection.
Regeneron has fulfilled its order to the federal government with the last doses being delivered during the second quarter of this year, said Alexandra Bowie, a company spokesperson.
The drugs are available to medical providers at no cost, she said.
“The supply has already been bought and paid for by the federal government,” Bowie said. “So it’s just sitting there. We don’t get paid more money if people use it or not. We want people to use it because it’s the right thing to do, and we believe it can help people.”
“This is not meant to be a substitute for vaccination,” she added. “We believe people should get vaccinated, but we also believe if they get sick they should get treated.”
The earliest expiration date on the doses is March 2022, Bowie said.
While the federal government is covering the cost of the doses, expenses related to the administration of the drug are billed to insurance. Uninsured patients aren’t being turned away from the state’s clinics and can get the treatment for free, too, said Weesam Khoury, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health.
The state also has strike teams to administer the drug at nursing homes and longterm care facilities in need of monoclonal antibody treatments, Khoury said.
“At the end of the day, the main focus is making sure people don’t end up in the hospital, don’t die or have severe illness,” Khoury said.
Khoury did not have figures available on how much the state is spending on administering the drug. DeSantis said he expects the state will eventually offer up to 20 clinics across Florida, including one in Miami-Dade County that will open later this week.
Clinics have been opened in Orlando, Ormond Beach, Brevard County, Pasco County, Jacksonville, Pembroke Pines, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
Jacksonville’s clinic has averaged about 53 doses a day during its first seven days of operation, but demand is increasing, according to numbers provided by the city. The clinic moved to a new location Tuesday with a bigger capacity and recorded its highest single-day patient total Wednesday with 143 doses administered.
Some of the patients coming for the treatment have been seriously ill with COVID-19. A photo posted on the website Reddit, first confirmed by First Coast News, showed a woman sprawled on the floor. The Reddit user wrote her husband, who was vaccinated but tested positive for COVID-19, waited more than two hours for the treatment and saw people “moaning, crying, unable to move.”
In response, the city of Jacksonville, which is supporting the state-run site at the city’s Main Library, has tripled the number of wheelchairs available to patients, provided additional seating and added signage that directs patients to alert someone for assistance, Caroline Adkins, a city spokesperson, wrote in an email. The library is closed to patrons for a planned upgrade as it serves COVID-19 patients.
The state-run sites are not overburdened and have plenty of cots, wheelchairs and medical staff to assist people who are ill, Khoury said.
Biden’s COVID-19 task force is also promoting the use of monoclonal antibodies, particularly in states hit hard by the virus, while also reiterating vaccines are the best protection strategy. Florida’s Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running for governor in 2022, announced Thursday she approved the use of the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa as a monoclonal antibody treatment location. Fried has oversight of the fairgrounds.
Fried encouraged vaccination as the best defense, but she said “monoclonal antibody therapy may help reduce symptoms when treated early” for “those who unfortunately test positive for COVID-19.”
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a White House COVID-19 adviser, said during an Aug. 12 briefing the federal government is sending surge teams to work with states to increase access to monoclonal antibodies.
“The monoclonal antibodies work,” she said. “They are safe. They’re free. They keep people out of the hospital and help keep them alive.”
AdventHealth, Central Florida’s largest hospital system, has provided more than 3,600 monoclonal antibody treatments since December and has the capacity to administer 670 a week.
Regeneron’s antibody cocktail can be administered two ways. An IV treatment takes about an hour with another hour of observation required. The drug can also be administered through four shots given in a roughly five-minute span. The shots can be given at the thigh, upper arm or upper stomach.
Antibody treatment is a rare source of agreement between DeSantis and Biden, who have clashed over the handling of the pandemic. DeSantis has blocked mask mandates and prohibited businesses from requiring customers show proof of vaccination. DeSantis — widely seen as a potential GOP contender for president in 2024 — has also mocked Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s COVID medical adviser. DeSantis’ campaign website is selling drink koozies that proclaim, “Don’t Fauci My Florida.”
DeSantis is facing criticism for focusing on monoclonal antibodies during public events while resisting mask mandates and other measures that could also help take pressure off the state’s strained health care system. Florida has been setting COVID-19 hospitalization records with nearly 17,000 patients needing care on Thursday, according to the Florida Hospital Association.
About 70% of Floridians eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine have gotten at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It takes time for the body to build protection against the virus after the vaccination. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks after the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.
The federal government has spent at least $20 billion on COVID-19 vaccines, according to an April report from the Government Accountability Office. Late last month, the Biden administration ordered 200 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine at a cost of about $24 a dose (up from $19.50 a dose paid in earlier orders), according to the Wall Street Journal.
After Trump’s bout with COVID-19, he falsely called Regeneron a “cure” and pressed the Food and Drug Administration to approve its use.
The FDA issued an emergency-use authorization in November for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in people 12 years and older who are considered to be at high risk of serious illness. Risk factors include being 65 or older, obesity, diabetes and other underlying health conditions. The FDA expanded that authorization last month to include high-risk people exposed to the virus but who have not tested positive.
A standing order from the surgeon general means that a prescription isn’t required to get the treatment if the criteria are met. Appointments can be made at patientportalfl.com.
Regeneron is under the same emergency-use authorization as the COVID-19 vaccines.
In clinical trials, the antibody cocktail was shown to reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or emergency room visits in patients at high risk for disease progression.
As the delta variant sweeps through the unvaccinated population, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has seen demand soar for its antibody cocktail with CNBC’s Jim Cramer calling it “the best bet among health-care companies fighting COVID.” The drug has received similar emergency-use authorization in more than 20 countries, Bowie said.
Shipments of the antibody cocktail to Florida increased more than eightfold in July, Nunez-Smith said.
Social media has been abuzz with a connection between a DeSantis campaign donor and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Associated Press reported that Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Citadel’s CEO, Ken Griffin, is one of the top donors to a political action committee that supports DeSantis.
But Citadel’s interest in Regeneron is a tiny fraction of its roughly $39 billion in investments, the AP reported. The hedge fund also has comparatively larger investments in Pfizer and Moderna, which manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, according to a recent SEC filing. Another hedge fund, BlackRock, has a bigger stake in Regeneron, and it has given primarily to Democrats, although it has made substantial contributions to Republicans as well.
Trump also faced questions over his ties to Regeneron when it was revealed Trump listed a capital gain on his 2017 disclosure form of $50,001 to $100,000 for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He did not list the company on his 2020 filing.
Despite Trump’s public endorsement of Regeneron’s antibody cocktail, the pharmaceutical company donated more campaign cash to Democrats than Republicans during the 2020 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ spokesperson, blasted the AP’s report, saying it politicized a lifesaving treatment.
“Both monoclonals and vaccines save lives,” she said.