Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) (SARS-CoV-2) [2020]

Very encouraging results for this drug. Not just the apparent reduction in mortality but also the reduction in the length of hospitalisation which is one of the main stresses to the health care system. If these numbers can be replicated elsewhere (and the drug is available), it could be a real game changer.

As always, Derek Lowe's site has good commentary and it seems the fly in the ointment is that the drug hasn't actually been authorised for use anywhere as yet. You'd expect that manufacture would therefore take some time, as might authorisation for use. It seems that there are other, similar compounds in testing (which have already been authorised for other uses), so let's hope that some of those have some efficacy. If they do and if this Chinese drug can be produced quickly in large quantities, it has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives this year and also provide treatment possibilities in the event of new virus variants which escape pre-existing immunity and the vaccines.
 
Mariner said:
Very encouraging results for this drug. Not just the apparent reduction in mortality but also the reduction in the length of hospitalisation which is one of the main stresses to the health care system. If these numbers can be replicated elsewhere (and the drug is available), it could be a real game changer.

As always, Derek Lowe's site has good commentary and it seems the fly in the ointment is that the drug hasn't actually been authorised for use anywhere as yet. You'd expect that manufacture would therefore take some time, as might authorisation for use. It seems that there are other, similar compounds in testing (which have already been authorised for other uses), so let's hope that some of those have some efficacy. If they do and if this Chinese drug can be produced quickly in large quantities, it has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives this year and also provide treatment possibilities in the event of new virus variants which escape pre-existing immunity and the vaccines.
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Over the past year, there's been dozens of existing drugs which show promise in the labs.

I'm hearing now anti-depressants have reduced severe disease by a lot.

Unfortunately, none of these have really made it out of trials to get EUA as a covid therapeutic, other than Remdesivir, dexamethasone and the two monoclonal antibody cocktails, the Eli Lilly and the Regeneron.

Famously, Regeneron may have saved Trump from getting severe disease and Eli Lilly may have saved Chris Christie.
 
Michael Mina of Harvard outlines some things which the Biden administration could do beyond vaccines:

1. Rapid home tests -- we may have switched from testing to vaccines. If we had rapid home tests last fall, we might have been able to reduce a lot of the winter surge.

2. Determine whether vaccines prevent infections or transmission. Could be done easily, without running another big trial. Instead, go back to the Phase 3 trial participants, of which there are tens of thousands of people, and periodically swab them to see if they're been infected or are shedding viruses. They don't have to recruit more volunteers. OTOH, we're getting this kind of data out of Israel but that's only for the Pfizer vaccine, not all of them currently being used.

3. CDC guidelines for post-vaccination should be still conservative but they may be too conservative. If they determined #2, they could give more liberal guidelines about what you can do post-vaccination.

4. Clearly communicate that people may need boosters or annual vaccinations. The cells which produce sterilizing antibodies only last months, so more than likely, boosters and periodic vaccines will be needed. The July 4th target is encouraging but set expectations that we may have to vaccinate the whole population again.


https://slate.com/podcasts/political-gabfest/2021/03/racism-hurts-all-americans
 
Mariner said:
Very encouraging results for this drug. Not just the apparent reduction in mortality but also the reduction in the length of hospitalisation which is one of the main stresses to the health care system. If these numbers can be replicated elsewhere (and the drug is available), it could be a real game changer.
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They have lots of work to do. From the article:

Google translation
NEXT STEPS
Goren made a point of pointing out that these are the initial stages of the study, which will continue until its effectiveness is effectively proven. “We are in the middle of a global crisis and we want to deliver results as soon as possible. The ones we've gotten so far are encouraging, ”he says.

For effectiveness to be proven, the study needs to obtain good results with at least 600 patients. "There is still a lot of work to do and the partnership with the Samel hospital will be fundamental for this", he says.
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pascal said:
They have lots of work to do. From the article:

Google translation
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Yeah in the past year, there have been a lot of announcements of great results, either with a limited number of people, no random trials, or in lab experiments.

Get more excited if there are large phase 3 trials data.
 
pascal said:
They have lots of work to do.
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With the situation looking so dire in Brazil at present, they will at least have plenty of opportunity to run further trials. Let's hope the expanded trial data becomes clear quickly enough to make a difference. You'd hope that the manufacturers of this drug are producing as much as they can in anticipation of its approval. Also that trials of other drugs which target androgen receptors which have been approved for other uses prove to have positive data - various trials with few patients around the world as mentioned in Derek Lowe's blog could surely be quickly expanded in Brazil at present? Dexamethasone has saved lots of lives, even if it isn't effective in all cases, so shaving another 25% off the fatality rates would be very helpful even if the numbers weren't potentially as good as the new drug, proxalutamide.
 
cheapchips said:
Unless there are stats from European countries that aren't been published yet, the AZ 'pause' is a miserable case of irrationalism. :(
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yes but ppl are terrible about judging risk
though personally I dont want AZ cause its the shitty one against the new variants, not for any near zero chance of blood clots
 
I got a text message offering me the vaccine on Saturday, with 30 minutes advance notice. I'm not in the current target group (55+) so I guess I was a backup choice, but the timing wasn't great TBH so I couldn't make it.

My local NHS authority have been using Pfizer up to now, so I've heard, though whether that's by choice or just a logistical decision I don't know.
 
zed said:
yes but ppl are terrible about judging risk
though personally I dont want AZ cause its the shitty one against the new variants, not for any near zero chance of blood clots
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Works fine against B.1.1.7 which is what we're most likely to get here in the UK, so that's what is important. Should also provide good protection against serious illness with variants so I'm happy to get it. A 'booster' aimed at new variants is planned for later in the year. Wonder if I'll be getting an mRNA shot then?
 
Mariner said:
Works fine against B.1.1.7 which is what we're most likely to get here in the UK, so that's what is important. Should also provide good protection against serious illness with variants so I'm happy to get it. A 'booster' aimed at new variants is planned for later in the year. Wonder if I'll be getting an mRNA shot then?
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Oh Im saying dont get it and once Im finally in the queue here in spain, I'll take it, Im just saying against the south african and brazlian varieties its pretty ineffective and if theres one thing that we've learnt from this pandemic is that its only a matter of time before varity X comes aknocking in your country
 
Reuters have reported that the AZ vaccine is actually quite effective against P1 in Brazil (as are all the others):

https://www.thepharmaletter.com/article/vaccines-seem-effective-against-brazilian-variant

Whatever the reason for the vaccine escape of the South African variant, it doesn't appear to be duplicated in Brazil. We do also now know that a stronger immune response takes place if the doses of the AZ vaccine are spaced out to 12 weeks. The trials in South Africa had the doses given with a 4 week spacing so you'd hope for slightly better numbers if this was increased to 12 weeks.

What we really need to know is how much the vaccines protect against severe illness against that variant. Theoretically, it ought to be a good amount, but the numbers are lacking at present.

I do wonder, when the 'boosters' become available, if we'll see a deliberate attempt to give a different vector to the original vaccinations. This would make sense, if the organisational ability is there.
 
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