Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Ns20 - I agree, let's wait and see the improvements over time, words don't do it for me, I want actions and substance.
He needs to push on and prove himself.
Not annoyed at all, I'm hopeful that he can make the right steps and turn things around.
I'm just not in awe or in love with him like some clowns on here.
acaciatan - You can guarantee 14p today yes ? If i or others invest today based on your statement will you refund the money if it fails to materialise ?
TwistyMinkle - Agreed, lets see some meat on the bone and some meaningful steps forward before we all start worshiping again.
Soundsrisky - A sensible reply, appreciate it and noted :)
paulanthony.....But you "actually love the new CEO".......such an immature and worrying statement.
If you'd been here when this lot were worshiping JB maybe you'd understand.
I hope he does very well but time will tell, How is he any different to the view you had of JB a few weeks back ?
I'm already in, have been for a few months, just seeing all the fools on here falling in love with this guy so soon is worrying, they were the same with JB, a few words and he's the new hero.
I guess the majority on here are just born to be followers who need someone to look up to and admire.
Words mean little, remember you lot all worshiped JB a few weeks ago based on what he said, I reserve judgement until we see action rather than words.
You're correct Ghia, I certainly see it as a positive :)
Sorry about having to post it all like that but i realised not everyone would be able to access the article via the first link :)
Still, researchers said targeting the airways may pay off down the road. Oslo-based CEPI has provided funding to the Hong Kong project and is open to further investments in vaccines that are taking unconventional approaches as part of an effort to supply billions of doses to every corner of the world, Jackson said.
“Whether it’s our vaccine or another one that goes through an intransasal route that actually is successful at disrupting transmission and disrupting the pandemic, I take my hat off,” Diamond said. “If we contribute by compelling or nudging these companies to think about an alternative route for what may be a successful platform, then we’ve done our job.”
“This is a virus that’s transmitted through your respiratory tract, so if you want a vaccine that will really prevent infection and onward transmission you want to have an antibody response in your nose, in your lungs,” Shattock said. “The most efficient way to induce that is by inoculating through that route.”
Read More: After Vaccine Sprint Would Come Distribution Slog
Researchers in Hong Kong are aiming for an intranasal vaccine that would simultaneously offer influenza and Covid-19 protection. The first phase of human tests will start next month, said Yuen Kwok-Yung, chair of infectious diseases in the University of Hong Kong’s department of microbiology.
The ambition is to come up with the “vaccine of choice,” as the world looks to build on the first wave of products, he said.
Data from studies of the inhaled Oxford vaccine could come early in the new year, followed by Imperial results in the second quarter, according to Robin Shattock, an infectious disease specialist at Imperial College.
“We don’t know whether it will work well, but if it does, then it could be very important,” he said in an interview.
Imperial College in recent months has been advancing studies of a Covid vaccine using RNA technology that would be delivered via conventional shots and plans to expand its trials to 20,000 people by year-end. Oxford, one of the front-runners in the global quest for an inoculation, is in the final stage of tests for a shot that uses a harmless virus to carry the genetic material of the pathogen into cells to generate an immune response. Both techniques may be conducive to inhalation, Shattock said.
The experimental immunizations in Britain would be delivered through a mouthpiece in an aerosol, similar to some asthma therapies. Imperial researchers point to evidence that delivering influenza vaccines via a nasal spray can protect people against illness and help reduce transmission; they’re keen to explore if that’s also the case for SARS-CoV-2. AstraZeneca makes the FluMist nasal spray vaccine.
Activating these immune weapons, they theorize, can protect areas deeper in the lungs where the SARS-CoV-2 does the most damage. They also may improve vaccines’ chances of blocking transmission.
“The first generation of vaccines are probably going to protect a lot of people,” said Michael Diamond, an infectious disease specialist at Washington University in St. Louis. “But I think it’s the second- and third-generation vaccines — and maybe intranasal vaccines will be a key component of this — that ultimately are going to be necessary. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have community transmission.”
In a study of mice in August, Diamond and his team found that delivering an experimental vaccine via the nose created a strong immune response throughout the body; the approach was especially effective in the nose and respiratory tract, preventing infection from taking hold. India’s Bharat Biotech and St. Louis-based Precision Virologics last month obtained rights to the single-dose technology.
Vaccines that are sprayed into the nose or inhaled may hold other practical benefits. They don’t require needles, may not need to be stored and shipped at low temperatures and can reduce the need for health workers to administer them.
“When you’re thinking about trying to deliver that across the world, if you don’t need to have an injectable vaccine, your compliance goes up because people don’t like getting shots,” according to Lund, the Alabama-based researcher. “But secondly, the level of expertise needed to administer that vaccine is significantly different.”
Read More: Second-Generation Covid Vaccines Are Built for Impact Over Speed
Altimmune, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, plans to enter human testing with a nasal vaccine in the fourth quarter after positive studies in mice. Scientists at the University of Oxford, where a promising shot under development at AstraZeneca Plc was designed, and Imperial College London are also planning studies of slightly different inhaled vaccines.
Most early vaccine developers focused on a familiar route — injections — seen as the fastest to protecting the world from disease. Inhaled vaccine makers are counting on some of the unique features of the lungs, nose and throat, which are lined with mucosa. This tissue contains high levels of immune proteins, called IgA, that give better protection against respiratory viruses.
“Local immunity matters,” said Frances Lund, a University of Alabama at Birmingham immunologist working with biotech Altimmune Inc. on an early-stage nasal inoculation. “The vaccines that can be delivered to generate that will have some advantages over vaccines that are delivered systemically.”
An alternative to conventional jabs, sprayed and inhaled immunizations under development in the U.S., Britain and Hong Kong could play an important role in helping society escape restrictions that have upended economies and everyday life. Among their goals is to prevent the pathogen from growing in the nose, a point from which it can spread to the rest of the body, and to other people.
The Covid-19 vaccines closest to the finish line are designed to be injected into the arm. Researchers are looking at whether they can get better protection from inoculations that fight the virus at its point of attack — the nose and mouth.
Most vaccines in human testing require two shots for effectiveness, and developers still aren’t even sure if they’ll prevent infections. Scientists are hoping to generate superior immune responses with inhaled vaccines that directly target the airway cells the virus invades.