Long time bag holder here hoping what is in my bag turns to gold.
I looked at the PR and liked what I saw. Some feel it is not much different than last PR but it is very different. The RBL study bathed B onto monkey cells with subsequent reduction of the viral load.
This PR highlights a study using computer modeling of the structure of a huge library of drugs to screen for best candidates for binding with the structure of Covid 19. According to the screening B was one of about 30 drugs out of 11,552 with the structure to pull this off with Covid, which confirms the RBL research as a drug of promise. Think of it this way: if you send a ship to the international space station and the docking mechanism on your ship doesn't match the one on the station you are out of luck. Same with drugs and Covid.
There were 3 possible binding sites mentioned in the paper. The PR from Leo only shows the table for the one where B was a match but there were two more. By my count there were 12 drugs highlighted in the group B was in, 14 in one of the others (although only 11 in the table) and 6 in the Spike Protein site (no table in the paper).
Once a drug is bound to the virus many different types of interactions can occur. So binding is important but, once bound, the efficacy of the interaction is paramount. Efficacy is also dependent on toxicity (side effects). Taking all this into account this interaction, a cascade of chemical reactions, will determine the winner of the Covid sweepstakes.
The paper identified the best drugs on the basis of binding but we will have to wait to see how B does with efficacy. The RBL monkey cell data was encouraging in that regard. The upcoming RBL human lung cell study is the next step.
B has the advantage of multiple effects that may prove beneficial. It is an immunomodulator and can hopefully stop the cytokine storm that has killed so many. There is some great information on the IPIX website about the immunomodulatory potential of B. And it can also latch onto many types of bacteria responsible for secondary infection. So it may kill more than one bird with one stone.
Some feel B should be in Covid human trials by now but I think it is understandable from a safety standpoint that already approved FDA drugs showing promise would get first crack at that. As noted in this study of the 3 binding sites, B's group had 3 drugs with FDA approval and there was 1 each in the other two groups for 5 total that have FDA approval. Of course, none of these drugs are approved for Covid but the argument and risk of repurposing them is stronger than it is for a drug with no FDA approval.
That said, time will prove which drug is best. Hope B is a winner.
