“Right now we’re looking for singles and doubles” in treating the virus, the former FDA chief added.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday that the blood plasma treatment for coronavirus patients recently granted emergency approval by the Trump administration may be effective. “I think that this could be beneficial. It might be weakly beneficial,” Gottlieb said on “Squawk Box.” “It doesn’t look like a home run, but right now we’re looking for singles and doubles. There aren’t really going to be any home runs on the horizon until we can get the other therapeutic antibodies on the market and hopefully eventually vaccines and better therapeutics.” The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday announced the emergency use authorization for using convalescent plasma to treat coronavirus patients. President Donald Trump touted it as a “a breakthrough,” just a few days after suggesting, without providing evidence, that the FDA may have been holding up emergency approval for “political” reasons.
