THE drug being used to treat Covid-19 infected American president Donald Trump will be used in a recovery trial at Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI).

President Trump, 74, along with his wife Melania, tested positive for Covid-19 last Friday and one of the artificial antibodies being used to treat him, REGN-COV2, is now being trialled in the UK.

REGN-COV2, produced by American company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is being added to one of the arms of a trial across the country, which will involve 14,000 people until March 2021.

The trial at BRI so far has 150 people with more volunteers likely to be recruited.

"Just because it works for Donald Trump doesn't mean it's going to work for everybody, which is why we have to trial it," said Dr Dinesh Saralaya, who is a consultant respiratory physician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.

He said the drug has an monoclonal antibody in it that allows it to coat the surface of the coronavirus to keep it from binding to the receptors in the cells.

"Children don't have these receptors which is why they are less likely to be infected with Covid-19," said Dr Saralaya.

He said there are different treatments for Covid-19, including convalescent plasma, which involves using the plasma of people who have recovered from Covid-19.

He said another treatment is azithromycin, an antibiotic which is used to treat bacterial infections.

And if this trial for REGN-COV2 is successful it could be more widely used by physicians.