Government buys 15k doses of Covid drug that cured Trump

The drug used to treat former US President Donald Trump for Covid will soon be available in Australia after the government signed up to buy 15,000 doses.

The drug used to treat former US President Donald Trump for Covid-19 will soon be available in Australia after the government inked a contract for 15,000 doses of the antibody-based treatment Ronapreve.

Ronapreve, one of two new treatments Australia has ordered, along with an antiviral drug still under development by Pfizer, has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death by up to 70 per cent in patients diagnosed with Covid-19.

US President Donald Trump took Ronapreve when he caught Covid. Picture: AFP

The drug is made up of a combination of two antibodies which together block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from spreading.

It can be given intravenously in a doctor’s surgery, and is expected to be mainly used to stop unvaccinated people becoming seriously ill.

The first doses will arrive before the end of October and added to the National Medical Stockpile.

The government has also reached an agreement with Pfizer for 500,000 doses of the company’s new antiviral drug, which is still in clinical trials.

It is hoped the treatment, which is to be taken by mouth every 12 hours for five days, will stop people who have been exposed to the virus from becoming sick.

It works by blocking an enzyme the virus needs to grow.

The drug will be given alongside low doses of the antiviral drug ritonavir, which was originally developed for the treatment of HIV, to make it last longer.

Although the drug is still in clinical trials, earlier this month the Therapeutic Goods Administration gave Pfizer the green light to apply for a fast-track approval if the trials are successful.

In that case it will become available in Australia some time next year.

Infectious diseases physician Nick Coatsworth said there were lots of promising antiviral drugs under development around the world.

“Ronapreve has been recommended by the National Covid-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce to give to unvaccinated patients who are in danger of needing to be hospitalised,” he said.

“It’s a very good idea to buy these drugs just as they are concluding the clinical trial stages.”

He said that while improved Covid treatments were “changing the way we should view the risks of this virus, vaccination remains the best option.”