COVID-19 Research, Drug trials and Pathophysiology

No, actually I was surprised to know that they have only succeeded in enrolling 18,000 people so far. Still 12,000 more to go.

 

Math ?
1+1=2

 

An Eli Lilly drug conferred a small advantage when associated with remdesivir:

https://investor.lilly.com/news-rel...-combination-remdesivir-reduces-time-recovery

 

Oh boy the they are getting us.
is he a Q?
Or one of those antifa, Soros payed Marxist
Or from Russia, China, or NK, or the evile EU and its world government.

What is he ?
Who pays him ?

 

Damn those ''experts'' and their superior knowledge.
Burn the witch.
/s

 

You made me think of this.

 

Make up your mind. Am I paying (donating) or being paid? Sounds inconsistent that you accuse me of both.
But yes, my main objective in being here, is to post on Covid-19. I said so when I introduced myself and first registered. As a healthcare worker, it's my main interest, in the present circumstances, unsurprisingly.

 

You haven't been reading.

 

Vaccines for Covid-19, duh. I have a thread on it, which has been praised as a good service to other members. And I post extensively on other Covid-19 topics as well, such as therapeutics (as in post #380 above), the HCQ controversy, new research, physiopathology, sequelae (that's the health consequences for survivors), mask use, other forms of epidemiological control, school opening, and tracking of the pandemic. Not to forget my long thread about my vote in the 2020 general election, and other political topics. If you don't know how to look up someone's posting history, don't blame me for it. Regarding being paid to post here, it's ridiculous; I make more than enough money in my job. I suggest that you stop the personal attacks and focus on the content of the posts and threads. Civility is a must. Have a nice day.

 

It really is.
The conversations between you and our mutual farmer friend have been very informative.
I don't have the time or inclination to read as many studies as the pair of you do so I really value the insight you bring.
The, generally, non-partisan discussions you two have seem to be at the cutting edge of this novel virus information race and are well worth the time spent reading them.
Thanks to both of you.
As for the numerous hacks who attack you, f@ck them all. They bring nothing to the table but misinformation and division.

 

This trial has reported some preliminary results, and it looks good. Since it hasn't been published yet, all I can show is a link to the study design:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04427501

The design is a full blown RCT, that is, a randomized controlled trial, with 800 patients, in three arms - LY-CoV555 alone, the same + LY-CoV016, and placebo. This is a Phase 2 clinical trial for this new therapy.

So, what is it? Monoclonal antibodies made by Eli Lilly, proposed to treat mild and moderate cases of COVID-19.

What are the preliminary results?

They used three dosages of their monoclonal antibody LY-CoV555.

The pre-specified primary endpoint of change from baseline in viral load at day 11 was met at the 2,800mg dose level (that's the intermediate dose). Additional analysis of viral data demonstrated that LY-CoV555 improved viral clearance on day 3 as well, and reduced the proportion of patients with persistently high viral load at later time points. The rate of hospitalization and emergency room visits was 1.7% for the LY-CoV555 arm compared to 6% for the placebo arm, which corresponds to a 72% risk reduction. The drug was well-tolerated with no serious adverse reactions reported.

Now, this will be put to further test in a phase 3 study.

If this is confirmed, we'll have a total of four treatments that have demonstrated some efficacy in RCTs (with statistically significant separation from placebo although generally with small effect-sizes): dexamethadone, remdesivir, convalescent plasma, and LY-CoV555.

So, research continues to plow ahead. Just a few months ago we had no treatments showing efficacy in real RCTs. Now we have four.

 

The German government has installed a found, 750 million Euros.
It will give none refundable grants to companies developing a c19 vaccine.
BioNtech and Curevac have have been the largest recipience, 240 and 230 million Euros.
BioNtech is one of the front runners, partners with Pfitzer.
Both German companies are using those funds to vamp up their production capacity.
BioNtech has bought a factory from a Swiss pharma company in Marburg/Germany. Lovely town in my home state.
Its nice to know it is back in German hands, a little patriotism. The factory was established in 1902.
They expect to be able to produce 750 million doses per year in 2020 in that factory.

Even that I am biased, as a German, I have to say I like the approach of the German government in this crisis.

Investing into the most hightech companies. Its not just about c19, which is the present, but into further future vaccines those companies are working on.
This is seed money, too.

As I said, a few years down the road, the gigantic amounts of money going into c19 vaccines, will turn out to be a blessing.
It will allowe research into methodes and technology and production as we have never seen before.
Both of those bio-tech companies had their goal set on cancer, treatment and vaccines. Were they had maybe a 50 millions, they have now 500 millions and when any of their vaccines work, they will have billions.

I try to look at the bright side, one day we will have mastered c19, but the spinn off will be gigantic. Its like the Manhattan Project or the Moon Project. They were created for a specific purpose, but knowledge, new technologies were massive and changed our lives for ever.

C19 is Manhattan and Moon for health.

 

Another promising treatment. Very small RCT with 76 patients, needs duplication in larger trials, but maybe there is something to it. These researchers used a high-dosage form or vitamin D:

Eligible patients were allocated at a 2 calcifediol:1 no calcifediol ratio through electronic randomization on the day of admission to take oral calcifediol (0.532 mg), or not. Patients in the calcifediol treatment group continued with oral calcifediol (0.266 mg) on day 3 and 7, and then weekly until discharge or ICU admission. Outcomes of effectiveness included rate of ICU admission and deaths.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764?via=ihub

Of 50 patients treated with calcifediol, one required admission to the ICU (2%), while of 26 untreated patients, 13 required admission (50 %) p value X2 Fischer test p < 0.001. Univariate Risk Estimate Odds Ratio for ICU in patients with Calcifediol treatment versus without Calcifediol treatment: 0.02 (95 %CI 0.002−0.17). Multivariate Risk Estimate Odds Ratio for ICU in patients with Calcifediol treatment vs Without Calcifediol treatment ICU (adjusting by Hypertension and T2DM): 0.03 (95 %CI: 0.003-0.25). Of the patients treated with calcifediol, none died, and all were discharged, without complications. The 13 patients not treated with calcifediol, who were not admitted to the ICU, were discharged. Of the 13 patients admitted to the ICU, two died and the remaining 11 were discharged.

Conclusion
Our pilot study demonstrated that administration of a high dose of Calcifediol or 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a main metabolite of vitamin D endocrine system, significantly reduced the need for ICU treatment of patients requiring hospitalization due to proven COVID-19. Calcifediol seems to be able to reduce severity of the disease, but larger trials with groups properly matched will be required to show a definitive answer.

 

This is cool. Hypothermic intervention as a last resort.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnew...ts-covid-19-off-ventilators/story?id=72298631

The bit on CO2 clearance was interesting. Hadn’t really considered that aspect.

 

@CenterField, this might interest you.
German scientist have used in lab test/experiments cancer medication, which prevents the reproduction of cancer cell, on covid infected human cells. Those medication prevented in lab tested the reproduction of covid virus.

German language link, 5 of the meds are mentioned.
https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/krebsmittel-und-sars-cov-2-killer-120004/

 

Thanks. While this is interesting, between in-vitro (lab) activity and in-vivo (given in appropriate doses to real patients) activity are vastly different, any research into new avenues is welcome.

 

Cancer medications are just POISONS so it is hardly surprising that they kill living cells of all kinds.

For example the cancer drug Bendamustine is derived from the Mustard Gas poison used in WW1.

Revlimid is based upon Thalidomide that causes genetic deformities in developing fetuses.

As CF noted above there is a difference between what is observed in a lab and the results in the real world.

 

I have had cancer, 30 years ago. At that time the question was what will kill you, cancer or the treatment.
Caner treatment was done with"Round Up" type chemicals. It kills cancer, great.
They killed cancer and nothing else, it did not matter if the treatment killed the patience.
They knew that.
My Doc sat me down, dead serious, no screwing around and explained to me.
He finished, I probably kill you, poison you, with the poison I have to give you, to kill the cancer.
No treatment you are dead in 3 month.
Sweet
Treatment you are dead in 6 month
Sweet.
Treatment works, you will not be dead in 12 month.
Very sweet.
BUT.
You might be dead in 10 years.
Because we poisoned you, to kill the cancer
Ain't that sweet
Because we poisened you, you have a 80% of geting cancer in the future because those are the side effects.

I am still around.

Yes those meds are serious poison. I did not have them, it was chemo and radiation, broad band.
I think they know better today.
I wish I had them, I nearly died, because of the chemo and radiation.
I was young, extremely fit, world class atheneite, in my prime, was ranked in the top 200 in the world.
When I got out of it, I was a 90 years old, could not even walk, needed a a wheel chair.
Today the same cancer, 1 year and you are fine, even at stage three. You will get out of it, without nearly geting killed.
Because of those meds

 

Those toxic anti cancer medications could have killed you too but you are alive today.
side effects of cancer treatment can be dire.

 

Glad to still have you around.

Chemo sucks and being EXPLOITED by Big Pharma jacking up the prices for PROFITS only WITHOUT any improvement in the drugs themselves just adds INSULT to INJURY.

 

Two review articles were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine about remdesivir. The conclusion is that it does help, but modestly. Several details in the links below. The controversy about whether it's best to use a 5-day course or a 10-day course remains, with the two articles being contradictory to each other, on this, to a certain degree. It seems like the consensus is that for patients who are not on ventilation on day 5, the course should stop there; for those on ventilation it should be extended to ten days.

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-5831

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-5752

 

Masks don't lower oxygen levels even in people with severe lung disease, debunking a favorite topic of anti-mask fearmongers.
OSA is a risk factor, unsurprisingly.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/breathing-face-mask-does-not-190501400.html

 

bioNtech has started its certification process with the EU, revolving certification process.
Which means they will present the data collected and will constantly add new data

 

Lilly is seeking emergency use authorization for their monoclonal antibodies against Covid-19 (similar to the Regeneron version Trump was given):

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lilly-seeks-emergency-antibody-drug-124627118.html

 

'Sputnik V' Covid-19 vaccine will cost $13 a pop,
officials hope price will quickly go down once production accelerate

https://www.rt.com/russia/502830-russia-coronavirus-vaccine-price/