Trump Says Eli Lilly Drug to Be Approved And He’s Not Contagious

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Eli Lilly and Co.’s antibody treatment for coronavirus will be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and insisted he’s no longer contagious after contracting Covid-19 last week.

“I don’t think I’m contagious at all,” Trump said in an interview Thursday on Fox Business Network.

Trump again credited his recovery to a Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. “antibody cocktail” he was administered and said a similar drug under development by Eli Lilly would be approved by the FDA.

Lilly rose as much as 2.7% before regular trading in New York after Trump’s remarks.

“I’m back because I’m a perfect physical specimen,” he joked. More than 212,000 Americans have been killed since February by the virus.

“It made me better,” he said of the Regeneron treatment. “I didn’t feel great. I think I would’ve done it fine with no drugs, you don’t need drugs.”

Trump returned to the Oval Office Wednesday despite the possibility that he remains contagious. The Centers for Disease Control says the onset and duration of infectiousness for Covid-19 “are not yet known with certainty,” but that scientists believe that persons may be contagious for 10 days after the onset of symptoms.

The White House physician, Sean Conley, said in a letter Wednesday said that Trump, in samples taken Monday, had “detectable levels” of antibodies as compared to samples taken a week ago, when the president had tested positive. Conley has previously said that he gave Trump an 8-gram dose of a Regeneron antibody treatment on Friday.

The company said in a statement Wednesday that its treatment may have caused the positive antibody test.

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