WK's Regeneron COVID Trial Still Looking for Volunteers

Dr. Joseph Bocchini, pediatric infectious disease specialist with Willis Knighton Health System, talks about the the hospital's ongoing trials with Regeneron, used to treat patients with the COVID 19 virus.

So, how did a trial of this scope come to Shreveport and WK? "The company was looking for a site to study...this antibody and I have a history of being involved in multiple clinical trials...and they reached out to me to determine whether I wanted to be involved in this clinical trial," Bocchini says, "Obviously, we felt that this was a potentially beneficial treatment."

Bocchini adds that WK is one of ninety sites across the country involved in the Regeneron trials. Patients participating in the blind study will receive either a full Regeneron dose, a partial dose or a placebo. But Bocchini emphasizes that if someone in the trial becomes ill, they will be treated.

"It's called monoclonal antibodies," says Bucchini, "In the laboratory they pick out the strongest antibody that will kill the virus....then they create what are called monoclonal antibodies, which are a creation of parts of different antibodies, which then have a vert strong ability to kill or neutralize the virus presented from the infected cells."

Anyone interested in participating in the trial should call Willis Knighton at 318 455-9730 and mention their interest in the Regeneron trial.