The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Best case scenario if everything gos well we will get some kind of normality by 21st June at the earliest.
However..
That plan depends on
a) Variants not spreading
b) AZN vaccine being effective
c) School kids not causing a new wave.
At least they have a plan :)
Here are SAGEs 4 predicted scenarios - which one will actually happen is yet to be decided.
https://twitter.com/EdConwaySky/status/1363880176204021767
Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines reduce hospital admissions by up to 85% and 94%, respectively.
Thats not good the vaccines were meant to reduce severe disease in people by 100%. For the over 80's group 1 in 5 were still being hospitalised.
We need to see more data/design on how this study was performed rather than main stream media headlines. Like the Israel news headlines it has since been proven unrleiable data.
The Wuhan lab escape theory implicates not only China but the USA, EU and UK too. What most people don't realise is the Coronavirus gain of function research performed by the Wuhan lab was partly funded by USA, EU and UK.
Some easily googled examples
A company called Ecohealth recieved a large grant from US NIH who then sent on some of that money to the Wuhan lab to do this research.
Michael Barnier authorised funding from EU to Wuhan lab.
plus many more...
The chief WHO origins investigator is funnily enough a director of Ecohealth. Any wonder China, USA, EU and Ecohealth are happy to blame imported frozen food as the likely covid origin rather than a lab leak :)
There is an independent group of international scientists and researchers investigating the origins too. They are called DRASTIC, well worth following these guys if you are interested in a non partisan and heavy science related investigation.
Odd the Betterlife obsession, anyone researched will know another 3rd company is further progressed with their inhaled interferon product.
AH5N8 flu has been reported in many countries across the world in the bird populations, its worrying that H5N8 for the first time ever documented has infected 7 humans. Russia look to have acted quickly and contained it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_H5N8_outbreak
More info here on recent outbreaks in poultry/wild birds in many countries. Each resulted in mass culling of the birds. Previous flu pandemics have been thought to have originated from birds hence the drastic culling practices employed.
Maybe stockpiling SNG001 would be a good idea just in case it does break-out?
No we are not in a combo trial with Remdesivir.
Earlier on in Covid pandemic there was a trial that used the Subcutaneous injected form of interferon Beta (Rebif) combined with Remdesivir.
Thanks Thinshins for taking the time to register a new account on LSE and for your 1st post written about a stock you do not own to alert people to the fact SNG will have no demand.
https://www.leicestersresearch.nhs.uk/about-us-2/covid-19-and-clinical-research/covid-19-trials/
Thanks to Glenn on the reddit board
SPRINTER (SG018)
SPRINTER is a phase III study assessing the safety and effectiveness of SNG001, a medicine delivered through a nebuliser. Eligible patients will be 18 years or over, have a confirmed positive test for COVID-19, been admitted to hospital and require low-flow oxygen, and have not previously received a COVID-19 vaccination. In phase II trials, which recruited 12 patients at UHL, the trial drug delivered promising results: patients receiving SNG001 were twice as likely to recover from COVID-19 as those receiving a placebo.
STATUS: open to recruitment
Doh correct URL to the Nature article is https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00352-0 :)
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-viruses-hijack-cellular-block-immune.html
Viruses can 'hijack' cellular process to block immune response
The researchers discovered a molecular process used by the virus that blocks the synthesis of Interferon-ß, therefore blocking the immune system.
Dr. Seyed Mehdi Jafarnejad, Principal Investigator from the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's University Belfast, explains, "Our study has found that certain viruses 'hijack' this natural process in order to neutralize Interferon-ß and block the immune system, resulting in unrestrained viral infection which can make people incredibly sick."
My lab was fortunate to continue our collaboration with Mehdi Jafarnejad to discover how the mRNA translational repressor, 4EHP, on which we reported first in 1998, inhibits the production of the host defense protein, interferon," adds Professor Nahum Sonenberg, Gilman Cheney Chair in Biochemistry at McGill University. "This work is likely to have important implications for the understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 evades the human defense response to the virus."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-viruses-hijack-cellular-block-immune.html
New research into Covid1-9 severe disease and role of interferon
An antibody consists structurally of two functional units: a variable region that recognizes the disease-causing agent and a constant region (termed Fc) that engages Fc receptors on the surface of immune cells
The CD32 Fc receptor exists in two forms — CD32A and CD32B. CD32A engagement activates the immune system, whereas CD32B dampens immune responses. Combes and colleagues showed that the inhibition of interferon-regulated gene expression was due to CD32B. They thus conclude that people with severe COVID-19 develop antibodies that engage with CD32B Fc receptors and thereby blunt interferon-mediated defence responses.
It is important to remember that we do not yet know whether, in people with severe COVID-19, this antibody-mediated phenomenon is detrimental (by suppressing a natural antiviral pathway, allowing uncontrolled virus replication) or beneficial (by reducing toxic effects of a potent antiviral response). That said, these results raise the possibility that therapy to block CD32B would partially restore interferon responses in people with severe disease.
So not only virus dampens interferon, your own antibodies also appear to dampen down interferon response as disease progresses. This work is related to autoantibodies by bastard and casanova here https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6515/eabd4585
For the eagle eyed check the slides by Tom Wilkinson in yesterdays meeting. They discuss 'Possible role of auto-antibodies' in relation to Synairgen. https://twitter.com/LaneFoxResearch/status/1362344698124337156
https://twitter.com/Biomaven/status/1362181533273116683
New NEJM reports show both $PFE and $MRNA vaccines work appreciably worse against the full SA variant (think factor of 3-6 worse), but perhaps still good enough. Here are neutralization curves from different individuals after 2 doses vs the different variants - blue shifted left
https://twitter.com/AndrewE_Dunn/status/1362161752759291905
Now in NEJM: Pfizer's COVID vaccine showed a two-thirds reduction in neutralizing antibodies against B.1.351 compared to the background strain it's "unclear what effect a reduction in neutralization by approximately two thirds" means for protection
https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1362160675913568256
New reports @NEJM today confirming some immune evasion of the B.1.351 variant (identified in South Africa) to both the mRNA vaccines, less vaccine efficacy vs B.1.351 has been confirmed in clinical trials for 3 vaccines.
'The world’s most innovative treatments for COVID-19 will soon be fast-tracked through the UK’s clinical trial system, as the government announces funding for the most promising treatments.'
Fast track? The funding is over a year too late already! :)
If you do choose to short, best close it before April and the likely EUA.
People using vaccines to deramp the share is so 2020 :)
Strange game Leicester were poor throughout yet got lucky with VAR doing lines wrong (again) and a mad collison between goalie and CB.
The first volunteer enrolled in the SNG001 sub-study on February 10. The other agents under study are expected to begin enrolling participants soon.
**
Thats the best bit SNG001 already dosing the other 3 candidates have yet to start :) We take an early lead :)
Can you bore off with your cross ramps
China have just banned BBC news from being aired in the country.
Must have really been annoyed at inhaled interferon being misrepresented
BBC are government propaganda and should be largely ignored when it comes to Covid :)