Re Max Lataillade, the Gates Foundation, and what

Re Max Lataillade, the Gates Foundation, and what some seem to think (or pretend to think) might be a conflict of interest:

1) People have worked and do work for the Gates Foundation and private companies at the same time. Example, GSK.

2) While they've been working for both Gates and GSK, the Gates Foundation has funded GSK clinical trials and research. It has, for example, funded GSK's research into vaccines/treatments for malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.

So never mind conflict of interest.

I noticed the other day that the Gates Foundation has purchased an interest in Novo Nordisk, a Danish company which is by Danish standards quite large, known for diabetes and weight-loss (see: Ozempic).

ChatGpt says: :Novo Nordisk has become a key player in global health and is also involved in initiatives supported by the Gates Foundation, such as the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD) program, which focuses on developing accessible antiviral medicines for future pandemics."

Cytodyn has a drug that should be trialed for many indications. If you were Bill Gates and had an abiding interest in indications that mattered most to underserved populations, you might consider buying a stake in a company that could go many different directions with its platform drug. You could put $60 million into the company, get a controlling interest, dictate its areas of keenest interest, and, oh yes, make a profit. I've heard Bill Gates knows how to make a profit.

This is not a supposition or a guess but a pipe dream. (Jake has counseled me to mention this. Respert has counseled me to have a nice Pinot and chill. Evil has counseled me to watch old movies and learn. I follow everyone's advice.)