Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Joe Biden have certainly been sparing as of late over the overreaching policies Biden seeks to impose, such as mask mandates, vaccine mandates and vaccine passports. The latest match surrounds monoclonal antibodies, a lifesaving coronavirus antibody treatment.
Biden this week slashed the number of doses of the treatment to less than half of what a typical week requires in the Sunshine State – a move DeSantis called “disgusting.” If Biden steps in to block measures DeSantis is taking to make up for the deficit, Biden will have doubled down on the direct killing of Americans.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, DeSantis said he had a call with GlaxoSmithKline executives this week and is confident Florida will be able to order monoclonal antibody treatments directly from the company. Previously, Florida had used monoclonal antibody treatments from Regeneron, which had a direct purchasing agreement with the federal government.
“I had a call yesterday with GlaxoSmithKline executives about their monoclonal antibody [product] sutrovimab,” said the governor, adding that sutrovimab showed great promise during clinical trials. DeSantis added:
The clinical data on that was even better than the clinical data on Regeneron – 85% reduction in hospitalizations. It is not approved for subcutaneous injections, so if we get it, and we use it at our sites, we have to expand the amount of IV treatments that are available, which we are going to be willing to do.
Since GlaxoSmithKline has no purchasing agreement with the federal government, DeSantis said that Florida could use their product sutrovimab to fill any shortages.
“They do not have a direct purchase agreement with the federal government, said DeSantis. “The federal government has bought all the Regeneron. They just upped it for another shipment. We are not able to buy it directly from Regeneron,” he said.
Images: Gage Skidmore
