Forbes Article (for those who cannot access)
There Really Is A Covid Therapy That Works. It’s Called Leronlimab.
Thomas LandstreetContributor
Markets
More From Forbes
Imagine if Covid-19 was just a bad cold. 176,000 Americans might not have died. We would not have destroyed the economy. Twenty million Americans would not have lost their jobs or shut their businesses. Debt and deficits would not be exploding - putting generations at risk. Covid-19 needs to go away but a vaccine might not be the answer to our emergency. We need an effective treatment now, one that reduces Covid-19 to a common cold. CytoDyn’s molecule, Leronlimab, does just that.
Vaccines, which are all the talk, might not be around the corner. There is still no HIV/AIDS vaccine after huge sums of money spent by the government. Now the government is spending huge sums of money again in search of a Covid vaccine. One might eventually emerge but when it does, production has to be scaled up because most people will need to take it...repeatedly. And the vaccine maker will somehow need to account for the fact that the virus mutates. That all represents a very long and complicated process that ultimately, may or may not work.
Leronlimab is a monoclonal antibody knocking on the door of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. President Trump has scheduled a press conference today to announce a “breakthrough” therapy. It has to be Leronlimab whose owner, CytoDyn (CYDY) just presented favorable data from a double blinded placebo controlled study. It is the only drug to have done so. The drug showed efficacy and safety in a difficult population to address: mild to moderate patients. So while Gilead’s (GILD) Remdesivir (the only other drug with an EUA for Covid), remains controversial, there’s an opening for something better and Leronlimab certainly is that.
Leronlimab has the coolest sounding function: it calms the cytokine storm. As you probably know, the Covid-19 virus is not as bad for you as your body’s immune response to it. It sets off a reaction that gets out of control, especially in the lungs. The virus invades the body infecting, injuring and killing cells. This causes infection. The injured cells scream “help” by releasing cytokines. Cytokines summon chemokines which rush to fight the infection but this causes more infection in a vicious cycle. In severe Covid disease, a “cytokine storm” takes place in the lungs causing acute respiratory distress syndrome. Leronlimab calms the cytokine storm and it does so in three days. It has proven to be a life saver. If approved, it will also save the economy.
Leronlimab is an injectable - a subcutaneous shot, like insulin - which means it can be administered in an outpatient setting, without a hospital stay. In the trial it stopped mild to moderate patients from getting worse, dramatically accelerating their time to recovery. Plus, there’s an adequate supply to meet current demand. Gilead’s Remdesivir has unsavory side effects, nebulous efficacy and requires an IV and a hospital admission. Its side effects alone are enough to prevent broad use.
CytoDyn is an underdog, rarely mentioned in the press, while the government behaves like a child in a scary movie throwing billions of dollars at politically connected pharmaceutical companies. A feeding frenzy has developed as “promising” vaccines and treatments vie for attention from the government and investors. In May, Moderna (MRNA) launched a press release announcing partial, unsubstantiated results from a trial sending the stock soaring and insiders selling. Gilead has eight paid consultants on the scientific advisory committee assembled to help the government form a Covid response.
Meanwhile, obscure, OTC-listed CytoDyn has a dramatic immediate future as it expects a FDA decision on the Emergency Use Authorization any day now. Trump has foreshadowed today’s presser describing a therapy just like Leronlimab (An HIV drug administered by shot with results within three days). The largest company on the fringe OTC market, CytoDyn, hopes to be able to “uplist” on the NasdaqNDAQ-0.4% within the next couple of weeks.
Let’s hope it happens. Leronlimab works and we need it now.
There Really Is A Covid Therapy That Works. It’s Called Leronlimab.
Thomas LandstreetContributor
Markets
More From Forbes
Imagine if Covid-19 was just a bad cold. 176,000 Americans might not have died. We would not have destroyed the economy. Twenty million Americans would not have lost their jobs or shut their businesses. Debt and deficits would not be exploding - putting generations at risk. Covid-19 needs to go away but a vaccine might not be the answer to our emergency. We need an effective treatment now, one that reduces Covid-19 to a common cold. CytoDyn’s molecule, Leronlimab, does just that.
Vaccines, which are all the talk, might not be around the corner. There is still no HIV/AIDS vaccine after huge sums of money spent by the government. Now the government is spending huge sums of money again in search of a Covid vaccine. One might eventually emerge but when it does, production has to be scaled up because most people will need to take it...repeatedly. And the vaccine maker will somehow need to account for the fact that the virus mutates. That all represents a very long and complicated process that ultimately, may or may not work.
Leronlimab is a monoclonal antibody knocking on the door of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. President Trump has scheduled a press conference today to announce a “breakthrough” therapy. It has to be Leronlimab whose owner, CytoDyn (CYDY) just presented favorable data from a double blinded placebo controlled study. It is the only drug to have done so. The drug showed efficacy and safety in a difficult population to address: mild to moderate patients. So while Gilead’s (GILD) Remdesivir (the only other drug with an EUA for Covid), remains controversial, there’s an opening for something better and Leronlimab certainly is that.
Leronlimab has the coolest sounding function: it calms the cytokine storm. As you probably know, the Covid-19 virus is not as bad for you as your body’s immune response to it. It sets off a reaction that gets out of control, especially in the lungs. The virus invades the body infecting, injuring and killing cells. This causes infection. The injured cells scream “help” by releasing cytokines. Cytokines summon chemokines which rush to fight the infection but this causes more infection in a vicious cycle. In severe Covid disease, a “cytokine storm” takes place in the lungs causing acute respiratory distress syndrome. Leronlimab calms the cytokine storm and it does so in three days. It has proven to be a life saver. If approved, it will also save the economy.
Leronlimab is an injectable - a subcutaneous shot, like insulin - which means it can be administered in an outpatient setting, without a hospital stay. In the trial it stopped mild to moderate patients from getting worse, dramatically accelerating their time to recovery. Plus, there’s an adequate supply to meet current demand. Gilead’s Remdesivir has unsavory side effects, nebulous efficacy and requires an IV and a hospital admission. Its side effects alone are enough to prevent broad use.
CytoDyn is an underdog, rarely mentioned in the press, while the government behaves like a child in a scary movie throwing billions of dollars at politically connected pharmaceutical companies. A feeding frenzy has developed as “promising” vaccines and treatments vie for attention from the government and investors. In May, Moderna (MRNA) launched a press release announcing partial, unsubstantiated results from a trial sending the stock soaring and insiders selling. Gilead has eight paid consultants on the scientific advisory committee assembled to help the government form a Covid response.
Meanwhile, obscure, OTC-listed CytoDyn has a dramatic immediate future as it expects a FDA decision on the Emergency Use Authorization any day now. Trump has foreshadowed today’s presser describing a therapy just like Leronlimab (An HIV drug administered by shot with results within three days). The largest company on the fringe OTC market, CytoDyn, hopes to be able to “uplist” on the NasdaqNDAQ-0.4% within the next couple of weeks.
Let’s hope it happens. Leronlimab works and we need it now.
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