RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (RSPI)

[enemem]

I've been thinking about this mush issue, and I've reached the conclusion that there is in fact a good chance that we will get erroneous results from this study, because of its design.

Leaving aside the attrition seen in RD2 due to people pulling off their masks, the problem that I see here is that in this trial two things are tested in series. My concern is that whichever test is applied first, it will contaminate results obtained with the second.

If the pain stimulus is administered under normoxia/normocapnea prior to rebreathing, my concern is that by the time subjects reach threshold for sensing the pain, they will be aroused, which will change their response to the subsequent rebreathing protocol, shifting all subjects towards a more ampakine-like response.

If the rebreathing is administered first, the arousal associated with that may sensitize subjects to the pain stimulus. It's still possible that the control group will differ from ampakines, even though both are shifted to the left.

It seems to me that this whole problem was avoidable. The right way to do this study would have been to test for efficacy first, find the effective dose, and then test for analgesia preservation at that dose, without revisiting the rebreathing protocol, since preservation of the arousal response at that dose had already been established.

The question of whether RD2 by itself is enough to secure a partnership may be what the survival of this company hinges on. To stipulate that RD1 isn't going to be mush is wishful thinking. I very much hope that RD2 alone is sufficient, but I'd like others' thoughts on the issue.