I have been critical of many governments’ handling of various...

I have been critical of many governments’ handling of various aspects of the pandemic, but I don’t think ignoring Viraleze is a mistake. At the moment Viraleze is still in the no-clinical-evidence category, & no government or drug regulatory body should be recommending its use or spending money on it at this stage, just like they shouldn’t have stockpiled hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin.

I think the in vitro data on Viraleze is very promising, as is the pre-clinical study. But in the absence of randomised control trials in humans showing efficacy, it will never get beyond the chemist supplement-level of vague statements and low-level interest. At last year’s AGM I asked whether they were considering human trials and was disappointed with the answer of no.

Realistically Starpharma wouldn’t have the resources to run a trial large enough to test efficacy against Covid, so they’d need to partner with or sell it off to a major pharma to do this. I can’t see that happening either, so sadly I think Viraleze will stay as a novelty product, with its full potential never realised. And I say all that as a scientist and long-term investor, who is impressed with the science around all SPL’s products.