Just saw this on the news tonight. England has come up with a covid vaccine at the Oxford University. India wants to start using it in a couple of months. They want to mass produce it now. Here is the link:
Possibly new vaccine can be ready by September this year
by newsheep 18 Replies latest social current
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cofty
I think they are adapting a vaccine that was originally developed for Ebola.
It looks promising but too soon to know. If it works it will be the fastest vaccine in history by a long way.
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Finkelstein
Never under estimate human intelligence and perseverance
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Simon
Yes, it will be an amazing achievement if it is effective and safe.
Having worked at a company that did pharmaceutical R&D, there is an incredible amount of work that goes into developing new drugs and not all turn out to be effective when the go through the clinical-trials process.
I suspect even if things work a little, they will be deemed a success and worth using.
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shepherdless
It would be an amazing achievement, if true.
My (non-expert) understanding is that it is extremely difficult to create a vaccine for a respiratory illness, and no vaccine has ever been developed for any of the other known coronaviruses.
The reference in the article about injecting genetic material into a common cold virus is probably not a reference to injecting it into a rhinovirus (rhinoviruses cause most common colds). There is another type of coronavirus that also causes a flu, that has been in wide circulation for at least decades that we know of. That is probably what they are using, assuming the article is true.
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supernerdboy
Simon, seeing that you have had first hand knowledge and experience in that industry: Would you say that erooms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law law is mostly true, or just a ploy to justify super expensive drugs? Any insights in the profit and loss of drug research?
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Simon
My (non-expert) understanding is that it is extremely difficult to create a vaccine for a respiratory illness, and no vaccine has ever been developed for any of the other known coronaviruses.
Apparently, as coronaviruses can affect livestock, there have been attempts to create vaccines for use in farming for a long time. These have not succeeded because a coronavirus vaccine is difficult to create. Hopefully, the financial benefit for farming is way, way less than the potential financial benefit for saving humanity ... but who knows. Just because we want to invent a cure doesn't mean a cure is possible.
Would you say that erooms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroom%27s_law law is mostly true, or just a ploy to justify super expensive drugs?
Those all seem perfectly valid reasons why drug development is so expensive. Also throw in there the cost imposed by government regulations - the FDA approval process is a huge burden and cost.
Overall, any company funding the considerable sums needed for research of a new drug deserves the profit made from such a drug to repay the risk of the investment, especially if we want them to keep doing it. It's high risk / high reward because you could pay $b's in research and development over decades and fail at the clinical-trial stage.
The idea that when drug companies make a profit, they have therefore "exploited everyone" is not necessarily valid. There are no doubt some cases, but overall I think it has more to do with the political frameworks in place ... which is why politicians want to point the finger away from themselves. Drug companies make an easy target for the uninformed followers of contriving old fools like Bernie.
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RubaDub
I find it a matter of concern that pets (dogs, cats) have apparently caught the virus. I hope they will not infect humans with it.
Rub a Dub
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supernerdboy
True that part Simon. Regulation has a two fold increase in cost. Loss of competition due to barriers for entry, as well as the one you sited.
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My Name is of No Consequence
I'll believe it when I see it. They've been "working" on a vaccine for HIV since the early 80's. Yet we still donate untold sums of money towards research and finding cures. Please don't get me wrong. I truly hope that we can find something to stop coronavirus. But I also hope that they find a way to stop these other diseases and viruses that are even deadlier.