NanoViricides Inc. (NNVC)

[KMBJN]

While not overly concerned either, it's good to consider all the possible negative host interactions.

"These higher doses will increase the interactions of endogenous entities (such as immunomodulators like IgG) with the sialic acid mimics on the nanoviricides, reducing the availability of these necessary constituents for normal biochemical interactions."

My first concern you described pretty well above. The sialic acid receptors on cells have many normal biological functions. These normal functions could be disrupted by bombarding the body with nanoviricide cell-mimics (extra sialic acid receptors that are mere decoys), such that the normal biological function interacting with the cell's sialic acid receptors may be altered or reduced.

There is a whole host of immune related cells that bind to sialic acid receptors, using any of a family of proteins on their cell surface called SIGLECs (sSialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-type lectins):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIGLEC

"The primary function of Siglecs is to bind glycans containing sialic acids. These receptor-glycan interactions can be used in cell adhesion, cell signalling and others."

Here is one example of how the body uses sialic acid receptor, in fact this paper characterizes human SIGLEC-1, sialoadhesin:

http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/97/1/288.short

Macrophages express sialoadhesin molecules that bind to sialic acid receptors on bone marrow hemopoietic cells. So maybe now the macrophages bind to FluCide and don't perform their normal function as well, causing problems in red blood cell production, for instance.

The paper showed the mouse version of sialoadhesin was very similar to the human version. I hope and am pretty confident that all the mouse and other animal studies showing low toxicity will translate into humans.


The second possible concern I have is some kind of immune reaction against the nanoviricides. This is less likely using the PEG backbone, but still a possibility. What if the body started to recognize sialic acid (from the FluCide) as a foreign substance / invader, and the body started to attack all those cells with that receptor?

It's great that nanoviricides are *theoretically* non-toxic, host agnostic, and don't enter into cells, but you never know for sure. There certainly will be SOME host interaction, thus the need to do tox and human testing. I'm betting the interaction / disruption of host biochemical processes will be small, but will feel much better when this is definitively proven.