Hi BMD,
Long time no speak! I think it was just over 2 years ago now & much respect to your belief, resilience & posts. It has not been easy for us biotech investors over the last few years, nor any of us really dealing with the COVID cloud hanging over your head in RL & the Govt letting the infection rip through the community, would have been unheard of 2 years ago!
Just popping in to say a BIG Congratulations on BIT’s pre-clinical news in COVID-19 to all of you & the reason I am answering your post BMD, is that you put a lot of work into your research. Was great to read this news! I hope that this translates very quickly into the clinic for trials in COVID for BIT.
The bottom line is, we are going to need new treatments ongoing, this pandemic is not going anywhere & it’s hard to keep up with new variants. Not just B1 & B2 like Bananas in Pyjamas anymore, with borders opened up.
It’s not just a matter of single treatments either, because we have the ongoing issue of resistance with new strains, & depending on the stage of disease & strain of COVID, what monoclonal antibodies and drugs are useful or not.
We will all remember Remdisivir being stopped for treatment unless in combination therapy. For Tocilizumab, there is also a window of opportunity for that being helpful & high dose corticosteroids can do more harm than good if given too early (an immunosuppressant) as with Tocilizumab.
Sotrovimab will be a an interesting MAb for you to take a look at. This has been a blessing if given early within 5 days of symptoms for vulnerable patients ~80% preventing ICU admission or death, but even that now too has limitations for use due to viral resistance. It’s a worry!
This is pretty concerning with Paxlovid rebound - it does make you wonder if there is some kind of underlying immuno-compromise going on in these patients? Looks like the FDA are also saying no to an extended 10 day course at present. From what I’m hearing also, the side effects from this drug can be as nasty as having the virus itself.
Being invested in a few Biotechs, & one that is in a couple of large trials right now for COVID, WHO Endorsed & externally funded (it’s not competition, targeting a totally different pathway to dampen down inflammation & prevent fibrosis), we need multiple treatments. COVID is not a one size fits all disease & it is taking very large International Platform trials to help disseminate up to date research & inform treatment globally.
Not just Big Pharma trials. There are other pathways to getting EUA with the FDA & it doesn’t mean at huge cost to another small Aussie biotech either, it’s about getting POC & moving forward in Ph2/3 treating a diverse range of COVID patients where it matters most, in hospitals, how can we treat these patients best?. There are no guarantees of course.
But just thought I’d put that out there also. Wishing you all the best, maybe some BP interest also. BIT results look very promising!
