CytoSorbents Corporation (CTSO)

[techxen]

BARDA has halted funding for treatments in favor of vaccines

We can waive BARDA funding bye bye:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/health/coronavirus-lung-treatment-funding.html

This is not good news, not only for CTSO but for the public in general. You could see this happening anyway if you were watching the BARDA awards - almost all of it was going to vaccines.

"But earlier this month, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, a federal health agency, abruptly notified companies and researchers that it was halting funding for treatments for this severe form of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The new policy highlights how staunchly the Trump administration has placed its bet on vaccines as the way to return American society and the economy to normal in a presidential election year. BARDA has pledged more than $2.2 billion in deals with five vaccine manufacturers for the coronavirus, compared with about $359 million toward potential Covid-19 treatments.

But the shift in strategy also shows that the administration is backing away from the relatively modest funding it has provided so far for treatments that address the severe lung ailments, while continuing support for antiviral therapies that could treat people earlier in the course of the disease.

The decision to suspend investment in lung treatments blindsided academic researchers and executives at small biotech companies, who said they spent months pitching their proposals to BARDA, which is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Chan is not happy about it either:

"The chief executive of another company, CytoSorbents Corporation, said its BARDA application to finance a randomized clinical trial was now in limbo. The company makes a device, the CytoSorb, which aims to filter out the excess cytokines that are secreted by the immune system when it becomes overactive. Although the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the device to be used in Covid-19 patients, the company’s chief executive, Dr. Phillip Chan, said the CytoSorb should undergo testing in a rigorous clinical trial. “We are at war with Covid-19, with no cure, and a critical need to continue funding and support of the most promising therapeutic options,” he said in an email."