According to Dr. Jay, the relax of the age stratification was after the DSMC to speed enrollment. If enrollment was more aggressive, that may not happended. Even with EIND, UCLA could have easily run the blood on the 30 patients and Dr. Yang could have presented to FDA, Fauci, and his professional societies assuming the data showed dramatic immunonormalization. That would have been critical in buy into the MOA. Instead, he disappeared and just reappeared recently. You actually think the medical community would just buy what NP says.
NP is not a trained MD, it was up to the MDs to convince the powers that be. Dr. Jay, couldn't even convince them to give 4 doses.
By the way he also glosses over the fact that on a call in 4/2020 which he was also on, NP specifically said that FDA and Fauci initially pushed back saying that they would have to partner with Gilead and combine with remdesivir.
Now that Gilead as already made their money on their repurposed antiviral and many feel that the major part of the pandemic is over, companies have more freedom including VERU.