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Hello,

Happy Thursday! Everyone might be buzz-ing about the vice presidential debate (get it?), but there’s plenty of healthcare updates to fill you in on… So let’s get to it.

For starters, President Donald Trump last night shared praise for Regeneron, the maker of an experimental cocktail of antibody drugs that Trump took as part of his COVID-19 treatment. Trump called for the treatment to be free, and for the FDA to approve it. 

“I want everybody to be given the same thing as your president,” Trump said. “Because I feel great, I feel like perfect.”

Regeneron later said it submitted its treatment for emergency authorization. Trump received two other treatments for COVID-19, so it's impossible to say what effect Regeneron's drug had.

In other healthcare news: Speculation of a takeover is driving up Amwell's stock, we spoke to the CEO of Lark Health about the startup's lastest funding round, and Trump's antibody test might be picking up his treatment.


Roy_And_Ido_Schoenberg Amwell
Amwell's CEOs Roy and Ido Schoenberg.
Amwell

Amwell's stock is soaring, and analysts are pointing to speculation that UnitedHealth might acquire the $9 billion telehealth giant

Read the full scoop from Blake Dodge here>> 


Julia Hu
Lark Health

A 35-year-old healthcare founder just raised $70 million to help tens of millions of people better manage their chronic diseases

Read the full story from Kimberly Leonard here>>


trump walter reed discharge
President Donald Trump poses for a White House photograph to show him working during his stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Tia Dufour/The White House via Getty Images

Trump's doctor says the president already has antibodies. That might not mean he is cured with long-term immunity — it could just be his medication.

  • Trump's doctor announced that lab tests showed the president had "detectable levels" of coronavirus antibodies on Wednesday, less than a week after Trump's diagnosis.
  • Your body creates antibodies to help fight off the coronavirus, but research shows these protective proteins take between one and three weeks to develop after you get infected.
  • While hospitalized with COVID-19, Trump took a high dose of Regeneron's experimental antibody cocktail.
  • Experts suggest that the tests picked up antibodies from the cocktail, not antibodies made by Trump's immune system. Regeneron said that is likely the case.
  • If these are self-made antibodies, one doctor said, it suggests Trump may have been infected earlier than previously thought.

Read the full story from Aylin Woodward here>>


More stories we're reading:


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- Lydia 

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