Science denying anti vaxxers found their new, faux outrage issue after the FDA announced it would halt their emergency-use authorizations for two monoclonal antibody therapies, one made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (casirivimab and imdevimab) and the other by Eli Lilly (bamlanivimab and etesevimab). Previously, both therapeuticals showed positive results in treating, not curing, the often deadly COVID-19 virus but not against the now-dominant omicron variant.
Five out of six clinical antibodies that lost antiviral activity (Bamlanivimab, Etesevimab, Casirivimab, Imdevimab and Regdanvimab) no longer recognized Omicron infected cells. The other antibodies still bound to Omicron-infected cell.
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We report that among nine [monoclonal antibodies] in clinical use or in development, six (Bamlanivimab, Etesevimab, Casirivimab, Imdevimab, Tixagevimab and Regdanvimab) were inactive against Omicron.
Governor Ron DeSantis does not appear to understand that credible studies confirm that these therapeuticals prove ineffective against fighting omicron. In his world, it’s much easier to blame the Biden administration and refrain from promoting the only proven and effective way of controlling the spread of COVID-19, getting very ill from it, hospitalized, and even dying is to get VACCINATED.
Did we mention that DeSantis’ top donor, Citadel, has $15.9 million in shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc. and donated $10.75 million to a political committee that supports DeSantis — $5.75 million in 2018 and $5 million last April?
And did we mention that both companies agree with the studies that concluded their therapeutics do not work against omicron?
But, DeSantis has gained support from the usual, science denying and lying wingnuts, including the fully vaccinated, Sean Hannity:
Going quite a bit further, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw on Monday night even promoted a claim by a conservative conspiracy theorist that “the FDA is trying to make it so that people in Florida die of Covid. They’ll kill people to harm Republicans.” By Tuesday morning, she promoted another baseless claim that the decision was made “so Fauci-Pfizer can get a few extra points in the stock market.”
From the Washington Post:
The first thing to note is that the use of treatments under emergency-use authorizations legally requires a determination that the benefits outweigh the known and potential risks. It’s not just a matter of throwing anything at the problem that might help.
This was at the core of the FDA’s decision to reverse its 2020 emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine. Citing studies showing a lack of efficacy, the FDA said it was no longer “reasonable to believe that the known and potential benefits of these products outweigh their known and potential risks.”
