Who owns Regeneron? Producer of Trump's Covid-19 treatment took 24 years to make multi-billion dollar journey
President Donald Trump has received a dose of an experimental Covid-19 treatment which was developed by American biotechnology company Regeneron. We reported earlier that while there are no approved treatments for Covid-19 currently, Regeneron confirmed that the antibody cocktail was provided to Trump under compassionate use request.
In a memo shared by the White House, Trump’s physician Dr Sean Conley said that “as a precautionary measure,” the president was given “a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail.” “He completed the infusion without incident. In addition to the polyclonal antibodies, the president has been taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin, and a daily aspirin. As of this afternoon, the president remains fatigued but in good spirits,” said the statement issued on October 2. Shortly after the memo was released, the White House said the President was being taken to Walter Reed Medical Center “out of an abundance of caution.”
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ trustable record in drugs gave confidence to White House to use its Covid-19 treatment for Trump. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that he felt the White House carefully considered all of its treatment alternatives before it chose to give Trump the treatment. “I wouldn’t infer anything from the fact they chose the Regeneron product over another product — other than they probably had confidence looking at the data on the Regeneron product that it seemed to be the most effective of the products, given what they knew,” added Gottlieb, who led the FDA under Trump from May 2017 to April 2019.
After the news has landed that Trump is comfortable after completing his first dose, here is what we need to know about the company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and who owns it.
Who owns Regeneron?
Regeneron claims to be a pioneering biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. The company was founded by Leonard Schleifer who is also serving as its CEO and has scientist George Yancopoulos as its chief scientific officer.
The company’s efforts in the field of science and medicine have led to seven FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, its official site reports. At the same time, the company has been earning good profits. A 2018 Forbes report states that it took Regeneron 24 years to make back the billions investors had poured into it. The site further added that the company was making good money with $1.2 billion on sales of $6 billion in 2017. Forbes mentioned that Schleifer and his co-founder George Yancopoulos, have made fortunes for themselves: $1.3 billion for Schleifer, mostly in Regeneron shares, and $900 million for Yancopoulos.
Further, Regeneron’s own site mentions that its revenues have increased. In the second quarter of 2020, its revenues increased by about 24% as compared to the second quarter of 2019. As per CNN, institutional investors purchased a net $16.6 million shares of REGN during the quarter ended June 2019.