Treat

Regeneron stock soars on Trump's dose — the ultimate PR opportunity

Snacks / Monday, October 05, 2020

Not your usual cocktail... On Friday night, we learned that President Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. While he was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Medical Center (he was admitted Friday and left yesterday), he was treated with a high dose of an experimental antibody "cocktail" from American biotech company Regeneron.

  • The treatment isn't FDA-approved yet, but it's in the final phase of human testing. Trump's doctor made a "compassionate use" request to get individual approval from the FDA.
  • Regeneron stock soared 7% on Monday on news of the presidential treatment, and is up 62% for the year.

Warp-er Speed... In July, Regeneron received $450M as part of Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" to quickly develop COVID-19 vaccines and treatments — the US has invested over $10B in Warp Speed so far. If Trump recovers, that high-profile success could help fast-track approval for Regeneron's treatment.

  • Regeneron says it's on track to make 300K doses of the treatment by the end of 2020. FDA approval could mean big business – especially now, when COVID cases are rising as colder weather drives people inside.

This could be the ultimate Earned Media win... Earned media is basically free publicity (the opposite of paid media advertising). If Regeneron gets credited with helping save the US President's life, that's a significant unpaid win. It would be way more valuable to boosting brand perception than any ad Regeneron could buy.

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