While most of the public is staying home during the pandemic brought on by COVID-19, State University of New York at New Paltz women's tennis alumna Brittany Grandville continues to go into the office.
 
The campus of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, NY, doesn't look or even feel the same as it did about three months ago. More than 4,000 people are typically walking around campus, but as of late it is scarce to spot anyone going from building to building. Grandville, who started at the company in April of last year, works in the Sample Management group under Research and Development. Normally working on hundreds of clinical studies, the company added a focus toward finding an effective therapeutic for COVID-19.
 
"We jumped on the bandwagon rather early once COVID-19 started posing a threat. The company began research in the beginning of the year around mid-January," Grandville said. "Everyone here has been working hours on end. Not getting much sleep, trying to put everything together for clinical trials and analyze our samples as quickly as possible." 
 
The company already started a later-stage clinical trial in mid-March with one of their FDA approved drugs — Kevzara^® (sarilumab)  — that was originally approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis to help reduce inflammation. The hope is the same drug can help reduce inflammation in critical COVID-19 patients in hospitals right now.
 
In addition to trials of the company's already FDA approved drug, Regeneron will be beginning clinical trials with a new antibody drug specifically designed to target COVID-19. Grandville and the majority of her colleagues will be highly involved in the effort and Grandville says things will only be getting more hectic from here on out. The former Hawk has spent nearly 12 hours a day, six days a week in the lab when she goes on site with about 30 percent less people in the office to help in the effort.
 
"We have tons of human samples coming from all around the world to Regeneron – these help us better understand the virus and how our antibodies may be effectively applied," Grandville said. "We also have all of our other studies that we can't stop working on of course, but COVID does take a lot of the priority for the time being. What we do is work from home, and then come in in mini-groups. When I work from home, it is a little less stressful. When I'm here I'm on my feet 12 hours a day, I'm running around, and it's tiring. But we are really motivated here. We are excited about what we're doing."
 
Currently, Regeneron is set on beginning new clinical trials in June that are directly focused on the novel antibodies.
 
"We are really, really excited for that," Grandville said. "Obviously we are excited about the clinical trial going on right now, but the one in June that is going to be focused on an entirely new antibody cocktail. Basically it is a new drug and it is specifically targeted to COVID-19, whereas our already approved drug was obviously not designed for COVID-19. We're pretty excited."
  Although Grandville's company started re-focusing their efforts early on this year, the full affects of the pandemic weren't fully felt until March. With COVID-19 spreading quickly throughout New York State, spring sports ended pre-maturely, as students were asked to stay home after spring break. This also affected Grandville's former team, as well as her younger sister Jenna, who is a junior on the women's tennis team. She was sad to hear that her sister and the Hawks wouldn't have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament in the spring.
 
"My heart breaks for her and everyone on the team, especially the seniors that were supposed to finish out," Grandville said. "My sister is a junior, so she still has another year so she can hopefully still experience her senior season. The worry of them not returning in the fall that's what really makes me upset, because fall season, senior year, that's the main season, that's the big season. It's the best year. I really, really hope they make it through their fall season and go back and if that's not the case, I hope they can do something for spring."
 
Just two years ago, Grandville was competing for the Hawks and completing her biochemistry degree at SUNY New Paltz. Although Grandville wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do when she chose the major her freshman year, she always knew she wanted to help people. She is happy and proud to be a part of company that can make a difference.
 
"When you choose your major in college, you never know exactly what you'll really be doing in ten years. When I became a biochemistry major, knew I wanted to be somewhat involved in helping people in the medical field, and this is more than I could have ever have asked for," she said. "The medicines that the company has approved have helped so many people. My favorite part was last year when we actually heard from some of our patients and how their lives had been impacted. That was one of the best experiences I have had here. Because you can't always connect to the big picture when you're in the lab. You know you're dealing with human biology, but to actually hear back from patients, it is the best feeling in the world. I can't describe. I am really blessed to be here. This is the best company I could ever imagine working for. There's nothing like it. This company has been way too good to me, and I have to thank New Paltz for that. They gave me a great education and prepared me for the real world."

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