On Monday we learnt from Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s Chief Scientific Adviser that Coronavirus will almost certainly in no way disappear and a vaccine won’t quit it fully. He also mentioned that ministers and authorities should really stop ‘over-promising’ and be realistic about the prospects of a vaccine and the probably timeline of 1, unlikely prior to spring next year.
He then echoed his earlier warnings and those of his colleague Professor Chris Whitty that the COVID-19 fight will be a long a single, and it will be with us for good.
So, from this really should we assume there is no ‘silver bullet’ for COVID-19 infections?
What if there have been a single remedy that:
could stop the infection in its tracks,
was anti-inflammatory controlling the immune system’s response to the infection and stopping it from overreacting dangerously,
in circumstances exactly where sufferers created secondary bacterial infections in the lungs could supercharge antibiotics boosting their efficacy and eve,
was a repurposed drug currently verified as safe
was simple to make, scalable at the level needed to make a distinction in the pandemic and was cost productive, then wouldn’t that be one thing we should really all be receiving excited about?
Certainly though no such ‘silver bullet’ game changing therapy exists? Following https://centerforcovidcontrol.org/ , the only remedies we hear about for COVID are these which President Trump took, which had been either really new, costly and experimental or have a incredibly narrow application to a distinct aspect of the illness.
Properly, you heard it right here first – such a ‘silver bullet’ therapy does exist these days. It really is referred to as Nylexa®, from the tiny UK biotech firm NovaBiotics Ltd. It’s active components have been safely applied in medicines that treat unrelated conditions for more than 30 years.
NovaBiotics discovered Nylexa’s prospective rewards in COVID-19 following a decade of study in difficult to treat, drug-resistant infections, like the complex chest infections and inflammation related with cystic fibrosis (CF) lung illness. In March they applied for a £1m grant from Innovate UK (representing the government) to get started clinical studies. That grant was eventually awarded earlier this month, and the government are now contemplating regardless of whether or not to consist of Nylexa on two separate NHS platform studies.
But why, I hear you ask, if this is so very good have we not heard about it ahead of? Why are the government and the press not shouting about this from the rooftops? Why is this not becoming demanded by clinicians desperate for helpful remedies for their patients?
I’m afraid to say, it all boils down to funds. Little biotech companies obtain it hard to get focus as they never have the resources out there to their larger improved funded rivals. The names we read about frequently when it comes to ground breaking new therapies are invariably large multi-national pharmaceutical corporations with deep pockets and huge budgets to market their personal specific wares. They make certain their drugs get the essential consideration. NovaBiotics is a small private firm funded by a group of loyal and supportive shareholders so unfortunately don’t have the sources to compete for attention with the massive boys.
Which is why this circumstance is so frustrating. In mitigating the overall health consequences of contracting COVID-19, Nylexa® could boost public confidence of living with the virus for the longer term and potentially enable a greater degree of normality to return to the way in which we reside, benefiting the economy straight in addition to easing COVID-19’s burden on the NHS and healthcare systems globally. But receiving persons in positions of influence to take notice amongst all the others competing for their consideration is pretty hard certainly.
It is reported that there are thousands of prospective COVID-19 remedies in clinical trials across the world. I would challenge anyone to show me one particular which has the exact same potential for optimistic impact as Nylexa®, however this is not at the moment part of any trial, in spite of its impeccable credentials. So come on UK Government, and ministers, get your finger out and get this drug into trials quickly. The sooner it gets tested, the sooner it can be utilised to aid sort out the mess the pandemic has caused to all our lives.
About NovaBiotics Ltd
NovaBiotics Ltd is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the design and improvement of very first-in-class therapies for hard-to-treat, medically unmet infectiousdiseases brought on by bacteria and fungi and respiratory conditions which includes cystic fibrosis and COVID-19.
A top innovator in the anti-infectives space, the Company’s robust technology and company model has been validated via effective development, from idea to late stage clinical development, of its most advanced product candidates. In addition to the lead Nylexa® programme and the Company’s other late-stage assets (Lynovex® for cystic fibrosis, NP213/Novexatin® for onychomycosis), NovaBiotics has generated a robust pipeline of earlier stage, high-worth drug candidates which includes NP339 (Division of Overall health and Social Care funded programme) for life threatening, drug resistant invasive fungal disease and NP432 for multi- drug resistant bacterial infections.