Fitchburg man joins trial testing same coronavirus ‘cocktail’ treatment president received

MADISON, Wis. — A Fitchburg man may have a medical connection to President Donald Trump: the same antibody treatment for COVID-19.

Lane Manning tested positive for the coronavirus last month.  He had a few mild symptoms, including fatigue.  Manning agreed to join Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ clinical trial through UW Health last week.  

Manning doesn’t know if he received the same antibody cocktail given to President Trump or a placebo.  Still, Manning says he’s feeling better than ever.

“I was a little bit anxious about being in a clinical trial,” Manning told News 3 Now.  “You know, am I going to grow an eleventh  toe or something like that?  It’s been a phenomenal experience.”

UW Health says the drug has two antibodies.  It is in late-stage studies at Regeneron.  So far, UWH has treated about a dozen patients with the drug.

“It is one of the first treatments that has been made specifically to targetCOVID-19,” UW Health’s Dr. William Hartman said.  “It’s exciting we’ve seen the results we’ve seen.”

UW Health is one of 100 clinical trial sites in the United States using this experimental drug on patients to help fight COVID-19.

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