The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Plot thickens a bit more
https://twitter.com/John_LaMattina/status/1371461520845070339
AstraZeneca warned the EU it no longer expects to supply the bloc with around 100 million Covid-19 shots it pledged in coming months, worsening a vaccine supply crisis on the continent.
So could well be political. EU wont have the AZN vaccines due to supply issues so better politicla sell to suspend AZN vaccine citing deaths/avderse events until further investigations conclude otherwise. hmm.
Even if you pro or anti vax the story has big ramifications across EU and the World.
The AZN vaccine has a terrible reputation outside of the UK where takeup in most EU countries is already very poor. Add in manslaughter charges, the AZN vaccine is going to be refused by many people in favour of Phizer or Sinovac etc.
The consequence will be a much slower vaccine rollout across many countries like France, Italy and Germany. In theory this will likely mean more infections, hospitalisations and death for a longer duration of time. The demand for theraputics is going to be needed even more sadly.
I also note that the EU are taking legal action against the UK today. Possibly the vaccine deaths are being used as a political tool.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1409975/brexit-news-eu-legal-action-court-uk-northern-ireland-protocol
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-astrazeneca-idUSKBN2B31YH
Following on from the AZN vaccine deaths in Italy the story is developing further.
https://torino.repubblica.it/cronaca/2021/03/15/news/astrazeneca_i_nas_sequestrano_in_tutta_italia_il_lotto_bloccato_in_piemonte-292332904/
Prosecutor in Piedmont opens criminal case for manslaughter following death of a musician a few hours after being given the AZN Vaccine. The same prosecutor has ordered the entire batch of nearly 400k vaccines seized.
Hard to say whether this is a bad batch of AZN vaccines that has killed people or if its more political.
The panel are all very aware of SNG and activ-2 for sure as they have previously commented on twitter regarding SNG last year.
In a meeting like this they are not going to name drop SNG they are going to use the correct terminology of interferon beta in the context of the presentation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYEJ1c4mD6Q
'Reflecting on SARS-CoV-2 and other viral threats, experts dive into the critical roles of genomics, vaccines and machine learning in our ability to rapidly characterize and respond to novel infectious diseases.'
Watch the entire thing as it a great overview of the pandemic but quite a find is these US based experts on a panel all concluding interferon Beta via inhalation is the likely pathway to go.
Some key bits from
14 mins Prof Akiko (Immunologist)
32 mins Dr Rasmussen (Virologist)
The GSK mabs need to be used sharpish in the outpatient within 5 days of the onset of symptoms and positive PCR test.
Like all mAbs before it they are underused, very expensive and not suitable for home use due to the IV delivery method.
The key thing is what happens next -
In the update to market, GSK look to recognise the obvious issues and are going for IM injection route (clever) which AZN are also going for.
OMET-PEAK:
An ongoing Phase 2 trial with two parts: to compare the safety and viral kinetics of 500 mg intramuscularly (IM) administered VIR-7831 to 500 mg intravenously administered VIR-7831 among low-risk adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 and to evaluate the similarity and pharmacokinetics between VIR-7831 manufactured by different processes.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04779879
Then after
COMET-TAIL:
A Phase 3 trial expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021 in high-risk adults to assess whether IM-administered VIR-7831 can reduce hospitalisation or death due to COVID-19.
So bit odd why they didn't start or at least run in conjunction the IM injection method of delivery. I think a bad decision considering AZN mabs are doing this.
As SARS-CoV-2 in the human population might mutate for more efficient transmissibility it could also be aided by more efficient interferon antagonism. Viral fitness.
Going forward the authors of the paper say it a good idea using ORF6 as a marker for genomic surveillance of the circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. In particular amino acids at positions 51 and 56 in ORF6 should be monitored for potential adaptive changes.
Basically keep an eye out for new variants and this potential mutation.
In a nutshell they are saying SARS-COV-2 has the potential to mutate and have a much stronger effect on supressing the interferon response. It can mutate to be more like the original SARS-COV virus that has a much stronger effect on supressing interferon. Bad!
Not all mutations will make a virus more transmissable or cause it to evade antibodies. Other mutations on the virus can trigger different actions/functions ie in this case the potential to suppress interferon even more.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32529952/
In this related paper the scientists found that proteins nsp13, nsp14, nsp15 and orf6 function as potent interferon antagonists. Among the 27 viral proteins, SARS-CoV-2 orf6 demonstrated the strongest suppression on both primary interferon production and interferon signalling.
They even suggest using Orf6-deleted SARS-CoV-2 to be considered for the development of an intranasal live-but-attenuated vaccine against COVID-19! Gos to show how important the suppression of interferon is to this virus.
Its hard to tell who the best trader is Tiger or Eva? Im just glad you are both here to guide us.
Biden and the Dems says hope this time next year USA can get back to normal. March 2022.
Texas and Reps have just announced a full reopening of the state including no more masks and back to normal. March 2021.
Who will be right? America another wave coming or back to normality quickly?
Many eyes will be on Texas :)
Copies the interferon alpha nasal drops China used back in Jan 2020 in all its medical staff. The nasal drops were hugely successful in preventing disease.
Essentially the idea being if you come into contact with a person who has tested positive you take these nasal drops and it prevents the infection developing. Would have been a perfect solution for care homes but despite Chinas evidence Western countries ignored the treatment.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6515/eabd4585
Blast from the past study on auto-antibodies in Covid-19 co-authored by Casanova. The outcome of the paper was promising for IFN-B.
Bill Gates has announced he is investing into companies from the aviation biofuels sector. More interest in biofuels can only be a good thing. )
https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1366393412094742530
Extavia is in a lyophilized powder form. It is normally mixed with a 0.54% Sodium Chloride Solution and then injected into MS patients.
For inhaled method they are mixing the Extavia powder in 2mls of water then nebulizing it.
https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/extavia
Gives an idea of cost in the USA. 2-3 times more expensive than SNG001s proposed price. Not sure on costs in EU.
I can't understand people wanting passports/restrictions on people that do not take a vaccine. Talk of banning people from travel, jobs, pubs, venues etc is just wrong.
Cancelling people due to their religious/personal beliefs, ethnicity, medically excempt etc from society is wrong. Reminds me of Apartheid and I really worry if the UK gos down this road.
I am pro vaccines but more importantly pro freedom and individual choice. Who are we to tell a young healthy adult who is near zero risk from covid you must take an experimental vaccine where we have no idea of the long term affects. If you don't take it you will lose your job and can't travel etc.
Herd immunity is possible with natural infection or vaccination. 68.3% from independent SAGE is the required population herd immunity threshold.
For more info on
Novartis a large Swiss Pharma company (50 billion revenue last year) make Extavia. The IFNB1B drug is used for MS and given by injection. It lists human albumin and mannitol as ingredients.
Why is SNG001 formulation important? Its USP is its pH neutral, and is free of mannitol, arginine and human serum albumin.
For clarification there are 3 trials being pushed by France in an Interferon Beta blitz. They all have national priority status.
They are also targeting different stages of the disease which is a bonus.
Outpatients (Coverage)
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04356495
A 10-minute nebulization, once a day, from the first day (day 0) to day 4, of 9.6 MIU / 300 µg of IFN-ß-1b (EXTAVIA®) diluted in 2 mL of water
Moderate Hospitalisation (Sprinter)
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04732949
SNG001
Moderate/Critical Hospitalisation (COV-NI)
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04469491
Inteferon Beta 1b (unknown company)
This trial is currently suspended pending a review of data.
https://twitter.com/MARYau_MCU_PH/status/1365023515146076164
The French Dr Aurelien Mary confirms it
https://formelife.com/ good announcement for sure, I have seen this advertised on the TV.
With Covid home fitness is a big market going forward.