What’s a Polyclonal Antibody Cocktail with Pepcid on the side?

It’s been reported that President Trump is stable and doing well but has a mild cough and headache. He’s resting at a very interesting complex that was built at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. It is essentially an entire executive suite built exactly for a time like this when the President of the United States becomes ill but is still capable of running the business of the U.S.

President Trump is taking zinc, vitamin D , melatonin, and a baby aspirin. He also is taking Remdesevir , an injection in a class of medications called antivirals. It works by stopping the virus from spreading in the body. In May remdesivir became the first drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat Covid-19. Prior to that it hadn’t been approved for use for any specific disease. It’s given by IV (intravenously) for 5-10 days.

That’s interesting, BUT what is this Polyclonal Antibody Cocktail? There hasn’t been much in the news about it. First you’ll need to know a little bit about the IMMUNE system. The immune system is made up of special organs, cells and chemicals that fight infection (microbes). The main parts of the immune system are: white blood cells, antibodies, the complement system, the lymphatic system, the spleen, the thymus, and the bone marrow. The two kinds of lymphocytes are B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes. Lymphocytes start out in the bone marrow and either stay there and mature into B cells, or go to the thymus gland to mature into T cells. B lymphocytes are like the body’s military intelligence system. They find their targets and send defenses to lock onto them. T cells are like the soldiers. They destroy the invaders that the intelligence system finds.

Polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) are antibodies that are secreted by different B cell sources within the body (whereas monoclonal antibodies come from a single cell lineage). The pharmaceutical company Regeneron produced the “cocktail” that President Trump received yesterday. It also included antibodies isolated from people who have survived COVID-19. The intent is for the two antibodies to bind to the coronavirus’ protein, “limiting the ability of viruses to escape”. Currently it is an EXPERIMENTAL drug that is in Phase III trials. So President Trump is actually a trial participant and deserves tremendous credit for being willing to give it a try!

Lastly he is taking Pepcid (famotidine) a common over-the-counter medication usually taken for upset stomach and ulcers. Dr. Raymond McKay, a cardiologist at the Hartford HealthCare (HHC) Heart & Vascular Institute, is the primary investigator of the “Famotidine (Pepcid) Study,” which recently released data based on research involving 900 hospitalized HHC patients. Researchers became interested in Pepcid following a recent report out of New York City and Columbia University suggesting that it was associated with a lower in hospital mortality in their COVID population.

The findings:

• Patients taking Pepcid were 45 percent less likely to die in the hospital and less likely to have combined adverse outcomes leading to death. The patients were also 48 percent less likely to need help breathing from a ventilator.
• Pepcid use led to lower levels of certain blood tests associated with poorer outcomes from COVID-19.

Pepcid isn’t believed to actually be “anti-viral”, rather it may reduce the hyperimmune inflammatory response that causes many of the systemic problems in the lungs and kidneys.

So there you have it…..all the dope. We’ve come a long way in treating Covid and are seeing a dramatic drop in mortality rates. Much of the progress is due to President Trump “fast tracking” these new drugs and making them available for those willing to give them a try. Please continue to send your prayers, energy, good thoughts or whatever else you believe in to President Trump, First Lady Melania and all who are suffering from this scourge.

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