Reports have revealed that the treatment for COVID-19 received by US President Donald Trump was developed using human cells from a fetus that was aborted over four decades ago.

The antiviral drug Remdesivir, which Trump received for treatment last week, was also developed with those cell lines. Experts have called out Trump for his hypocrisy, especially since, in 2019, he had suspended federal funding for research projects involving fetal tissue for various treatments after being prompted by social conservatives, who are crucial for Trump's vote bank. The treatment received by the United States President for COVID-19 was an experimental "antibody cocktail" made by the American biotech company 'Regeneron.' The company reportedly confirmed to the MIT Technology Review that its testing involved using cells that were originally obtained from an embryonic kidney of a fetus aborted in the 1970s in the Netherlands.The stem cells used to develop the drug are called HEK-293T cells, a line of cells used in laboratories. Donald Trump, who recently returned to the White House, had called his COVID-19 treatments "miracles coming down from God," despite being aware of the fact that most Americans do not have access to those treatments.

According to reports, the treatment for the novel coronavirus using fetal tissues is yet to receive approval for any use from the US FDA. The drug was apparently provided to Trump under a 'compassionate use' request for the president from the doctors. Praising the therapeutic drugs that paved way for his recovery, Trump posted a video on Twitter a day ago, describing his COVID-19 illness a "blessing from God." In the four-minute video, he said, "I feel great. I feel like, perfect. I think this was a blessing from God, that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise. I caught it, I heard about this drug, I said let me take it, it was my suggestion. I said, let me take it. And it was incredible the way it worked, incredible. And I think if I didn't catch it, we'd be looking at that like a number of other drugs. But it really did a fantastic job. I want to get for you what I got. I'm going to make it free, you're not going to pay for it."

A leading stem cell researcher at Stanford University, Irving Weissman, mentioned that Trump, who had restricted the fetal tissue research after siding with the conservatives, did not think twice before receiving the treatment for himself. "He (Trump) didn't understand probably what would be lost from fetal tissue research in allowing the ban, and he was not hesitant to use the fruits of fetal tissue research," Weissman reportedly said.