GrahamB wrote:
Morning everybody.
I Hope everyone’s doing well, and staying safe.
Gone for a few weeks, a little bit of excitement, but in the end, it looks like we are back almost where we were.
My assessment, once again, too little too late.(but fwiw what do I know)
The concept of now directing research efforts towards COVID-19, is newsworthy, but actually more concerning from a finacial and logistics perspective than promising, in my view.
When I looked last week, there are over 2000 SARSCoV19 clinical trials already approved, many of which are underway or have just completed
It is great, for patients, and for the world, as some of these trials and concepts look very very promising.
Great work happening in the vaccine world, with two important articles and a science article in recent weeks showing protective immunity is possible, and there are multiple vaccines candidates
One of the most promising lines of research comes out of Harvard medical school, as they have been able to show protective immunity in rhesus monkeys, and now from one of the worlds experts at vaccine which is ready for testinghttps://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/05/19/science.abc4776
What about the cytokines storm?
It is not unique to this disease, but certainly a paradoxical, and important reaction, when the body‘s response to a foreign pathogen results in more damage, and in the case of Covid, a potentially fatal respiratory condition ,ARDS.
There are many many candidates being studied, but one of the most interesting involves the JAK kinase inhibitors.
These molecules, like Baricitinib may not only able to block the penetration of the coronavirus through the ACE2 receptor, but also can shut down the powerful immune response which may be partly responsible for the fatal ARDS.(check out the AI initiative that found this-very cool)
There is a huge amount of research here, and very very exciting, and promising
Where does this leave FSD and the rebranded but well known nutraceutical?
Once again, in my view, more hype than beef, and too little too late.
Essentially, the time that it’s going to take them to get up and running, with the declining cases, and the heavy competition, in my view, is ill timed, and thin on promise.
On the one hand, I think it’s great that they decided to help out in this public healthbattle. Alternatively, with their limited and dwindling resources, this is an ill timed, and very risky initiative.
If they are not successful, and remember 95% of clinical trials are not, then where do they go? If they are to go onto a second clinical trial program as they were going to with osteoarthritis or neurological conditions, where will they get the cash? Time will have passed.
Sorry guys, but I am a realist, an evidence-based investor, and I love biotech...
Not to throw water on the fire, but I think that this article from Dr Rs hometown and a quoted analyst in the article said it best:
“Investors may be overvaluing FSD’s tidbit of news.
Getting approval to submit an application does not mean the application has been approved by the FDA, said Dan Hoffman, a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry.
“The FDA is going to want to see any number of things before that happens,” Hoffman said. “Everything from HIPAA [patient privacy] protections to what contractors and testing sites they’re going to use.... “If they’re just getting ready to request authorization for starting clinical trials, [FSD Pharma is] going to be well behind any number of companies with compounds to control cytokine storms," Hoffman said. “You’ve got to wonder if there is going to be much global demand for anything to do with coronavirus by the time they’re ready.”
https://www.inquirer.com/business/drugs/cannabis-related-drug-fsd-fda-covid-19-immune-system-20200603.html
Unfortunately, this team seems to be best at following trends and promotion, in my view.
Once again, I see this is a trading stock, but that’s not my game, and those who are doing well at it , congratulations.
Good luck all, and I hope that this new initiative pans out for the Longs, as unlikely and as ill-timed as it seems.