Corona Virus

[Tommy T.]

I found this online a short while ago. I find, particularly interesting, the reference to chloroquine as possibly an effective treatment. That would make for a simple and quick to manufacture medication:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/china-wants-to-patent-gileads-experimental-coronavirus-drug/ar-BBZFgcZ?li=BBnb7Kz

Chinese researchers have applied for a national patent on an experimental Gilead Sciences Inc. drug that they believe might fight the novel coronavirus.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology -- based in the Chinese city at the center of the epidemic -- has applied for a patent in China for the use of the antiviral drug, known as remdesivir, in treating the ailment. The application was made on Jan. 21 together with a military academy, according to a Feb. 4 statement on the institute’s website.

Large areas of China have been paralyzed by the coronavirus, and the move signals a desire to speed development of one of the most promising potential treatments. Beijing has moved aggressively to contain the infection that has killed almost 500 people and sickened nearly 25,000. If the application succeeds, Gilead would need to get Chinese patent owners on board in sales of the drug for treating coronavirus infections outside China.

“The good thing in having a patent is that it would lead to cross-licensing situations that give China more bargaining chips in negotiating the licensing fee with Gilead,” said Wang Yanyu, a senior partner at AllBright Law Offices in Beijing.

IP Concern

The move may revive longstanding concerns about China’s respect for intellectual property rights. The country has made strides in the pharmaceutical space in recent years as it works to nurture a domestic industry based on innovative drugs.

It’s not clear if or when China’s intellectual property authorities will approve the institute’s application. The patent filing will need to prove that the drug works on this coronavirus strain, 2019-nCoV, in a way that’s different from its effect on other viruses in the same category.

Filing of the patent application by a stakeholder in China, however, makes sense, according to Wang. “Most of the patients are here, rather than in the U.S., which makes it unlikely that Gilead will do all these tests,” he said.

While Gilead’s experimental drug isn’t licensed or approved anywhere in the world, it is being rushed into trials in China on coronavirus patients after showing early signs of being highly effective. It may go into clinical trials in China as early as next week in patients with moderate and severe symptoms of the pathogen, said Merdad Parsey, Gilead’s chief medical officer.

Chinese scientists have found Gilead’s remdesivir, and chloroquine, an 80-year-old malaria drug, “highly effective” in laboratory studies at thwarting the coronavirus, they said Tuesday in a paper in the journal Cell Research. The two drugs’ efficacy on humans required further clinical tests, the institute said in its statement.

Wants Access

China is capable of manufacturing chloroquine and now wants access to remdesivir.

The decision, however, to seek a patent instead of invoking the heavy-handed “compulsory license” option that lets nations override drug patents in national emergencies, underscores the delicate balancing act before China as it signals commitment toward intellectual property rights alongside curbing the virus outbreak.

“The fact that they have applied for a patent means there’s growing awareness about this in the country,” said Wang. “The government is compelled to avoid using the compulsory license because it has been making efforts to show China respects intellectual property rights and the abuse of compulsory licensing will draw international criticism.”

National Interest

Gilead will retain the global rights to market the antiviral medication, once approved, in treating illnesses such as Ebola and SARS for which the drug was originally intended.

The Wuhan institute said in its statement that it made the patent application out of national interest, and won’t exercise its patent rights if foreign pharmaceutical firms work together with China to curb the contagion.

At its end, Gilead is shipping enough doses to treat 500 patients and is ramping up supply in case the clinical trials work.

While the drug is challenging to produce, Gilead is working as fast as possible to produce more, according to Parsey. “It has been very no-holds-barred on our side,” he said.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Dave Hounddriver]

23 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Gilead will retain the global rights to market the antiviral medication, once approved, in treating illnesses such as Ebola and SARS for which the drug was originally intended.

Seems I have seen a few movies with that theme.  Drug company creates a virus and a cure then patents and sells the cure.

[Hobbit112]

Apparently China is trying to do an end run on Giliad;

 

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3049227/who-owns-magic-cure-chinas-move-patent-gileads-experimental-drug-could

 

A spokeswoman for the Foster City, California-based company said it had invented remdesivir, and had filed patent applications for the compound and its uses against coronaviruses globally, including in China, in 2016. The application in China is still pending.

[Tommy T.]

I came across this article while poking around today. It is filled with references and ideas that I really cannot completely understand, but I get the gist of some of it.

My main interest is regarding the potential use of chloroquine - a commonly available (in many countries) anti-malarial drug that has been in use for many years as a quality weapon against this new coronavirus. I was quite surprised to learn that the research has gone on a long time regarding viruses and also that it seems to be yielding some positive results. I just thought I would pass this along for what it's worth?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0

Remdesivir has been recently recognized as a promising antiviral drug against a wide array of RNA viruses (including SARS/MERS-CoV5) infection in cultured cells, mice and nonhuman primate (NHP) models. It is currently under clinical development for the treatment of Ebola virus infection.6 Remdesivir is an adenosine analogue, which incorporates into nascent viral RNA chains and results in pre-mature termination.7 Our time-of-addition assay showed remdesivir functioned at a stage post virus entry (Fig. 1c, d), which is in agreement with its putative anti-viral mechanism as a nucleotide analogue. Warren et al. showed that in NHP model, intravenous administration of 10 mg/kg dose of remdesivir resulted in concomitant persistent levels of its active form in the blood (10 μM) and conferred 100% protection against Ebola virus infection.7 Our data showed that EC90 value of remdesivir against 2019-nCoV in Vero E6 cells was 1.76 μM, suggesting its working concentration is likely to be achieved in NHP. Our preliminary data (Supplementary information, Fig. S2) showed that remdesivir also inhibited virus infection efficiently in a human cell line (human liver cancer Huh-7 cells), which is sensitive to 2019-nCoV.2

Chloroquine, a widely-used anti-malarial and autoimmune disease drug, has recently been reported as a potential broad-spectrum antiviral drug.8,9 Chloroquine is known to block virus infection by increasing endosomal pH required for virus/cell fusion, as well as interfering with the glycosylation of cellular receptors of SARS-CoV.10 Our time-of-addition assay demonstrated that chloroquine functioned at both entry, and at post-entry stages of the 2019-nCoV infection in Vero E6 cells (Fig. 1c, d). Besides its antiviral activity, chloroquine has an immune-modulating activity, which may synergistically enhance its antiviral effect in vivo. Chloroquine is widely distributed in the whole body, including lung, after oral administration. The EC90 value of chloroquine against the 2019-nCoV in Vero E6 cells was 6.90 μM, which can be clinically achievable as demonstrated in the plasma of rheumatoid arthritis patients who received 500 mg administration.11 Chloroquine is a cheap and a safe drug that has been used for more than 70 years and, therefore, it is potentially clinically applicable against the 2019-nCoV.

Our findings reveal that remdesivir and chloroquine are highly effective in the control of 2019-nCoV infection in vitro. Since these compounds have been used in human patients with a safety track record and shown to be effective against various ailments, we suggest that they should be assessed in human patients suffering from the novel coronavirus disease.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Snowy79]

The latest information I could find.  Looking pretty bad. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-05/china-sacrifices-a-province-to-save-the-world-from-coronavirus?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business

Spoiler

 

Musician Zhang Yaru’s grandmother died on Monday after slipping into a coma. She was repeatedly turned away from the hospital.

John Chen, a college graduate, is desperately seeking help for his mom. She has a high fever, but isn’t strong enough to stand in line for hours to be tested for the virus raging through their city.

On the front line, a 30-year-old respiratory doctor has slept only a few hours in two weeks.

Scenes of chaos and despair are emerging daily from China’s Hubei province, the landlocked region of 60 million people where the new coronavirus dubbed 2019-nCoV was first identified in December, and where it has since cut a wide, deadly swathe.

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While cases have spread around the globe, the virus’ impact has been most keenly felt in Hubei, which has seen a staggering 97% of all deaths from the illness, and 67% of all patients.

The toll, which grows larger every day, reflects a local health system overwhelmed by the fast-moving, alien pathogen, making even the most basic care impossible. It’s also an ongoing illustration of the human cost extracted by the world’s largest-known quarantine, with China effectively locking down the region from Jan. 23 to contain the virus’ spread to the rest of the country, and the world.

But Hubei -- known for its car factories and bustling capital Wuhan -- is paying the price, with the mortality rate for coronavirus patients there 3.1%, versus 0.16% for the rest of China.

“If the province was not sealed off, some people would have gone all around the country to try to get medical help, and would have turned the whole nation into an epidemic-stricken area,” said Yang Gonghuan, former deputy director general of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “The quarantine brought a lot of hardship to Hubei and Wuhan, but it was the right thing to do.”

“It’s like fighting a war -- some things are hard, but must be done.”

Wuhan, home to 11 million people, is a “second-tier” Chinese city, meaning it’s relatively developed but still a step below China’s major metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. It has well-regarded hospitals, but resources lag behind those of more prominent cities.

In the early days of the virus’ spread, prevarication and delay by local officials also allowed the pathogen to circulate more widely among an unsuspecting public.

Concentrated Death Toll
97% of deaths have been in Wuhan and the rest of Hubei

Source: Data compiled by Bloomberg from official sources

Note: Both deaths outside China were of people who had been in Wuhan recently

While doctors first noticed the virus -- thought to have been passed from an animal to humans at a Wuhan food market -- in early December, and signs it was being transmitted among people were seen at the beginning of January, authorities still allowed large-scale public events to take place. The scale of the crisis only became fully apparent to the wider public in the days leading up to the start of China’s annual Lunar New Year holiday on Jan. 24, as cases emerged elsewhere.

Caught Out
It came “like a sudden downpour that caught Wuhan off guard,” said Zeng Yan, a professor at the school of medicine at Wuhan University of Science and Technology.

The 110 intensive care unit beds in the city designated for virus patients had already been filled many times over when China announced on Jan. 23 that it would take the unprecedented step of sealing off Wuhan, preventing possible pathogen carriers from traveling out, but also preventing most people from coming in. The quarantine soon widened to encompass nearly the entire province.

CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS
Medical staff take samples from a person at a quarantine zone in Wuhan, Feb. 4.Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
In the chaotic, confused days that followed, which coincided with China’s week-long national holiday, the quarantine restrictions coupled with an already overwhelmed city infrastructure meant that supplies of essential medical equipment including masks, protective suits and high-grade disinfectant were slow to get to Wuhan’s hospitals.

“We were advised to use masks, gloves and protective clothing in a thrifty manner, and avoid drinking water so we would not have to go to the bathroom, which would require a change of protective clothing,” said one frontline doctor working at the Third People’s Hospital of Hubei Province, who declined to give her name for fear of reprisal.

Supplies Stymied
Ding Ze, whose family owns an eyewear company located in another part of China, said that their delivery of medical goggles to Wuhan was delayed by 10 days.

CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS
A doctor being disinfected by his colleague at a quarantine zone in Wuhan, Feb. 3.Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
“We sent the supply on Jan. 25, and they arrived at hospitals on Feb. 2.,” he said. “All deliveries from outside to the province were slowed by the strict quarantine procedures.”

While China’s government activated eight cargo carriers on Feb. 2 to ship in 58 tons of supplies to Wuhan, and donations are starting to flow in from all over the world, the shortages in those crucial days -- combined with the virus’ rapid spread as the surge in patients saw hospitals turn people away for lack of space -- had devastating consequences.

Between Jan 23. and Feb 4., the number of officially recorded deaths from the coronavirus in Hubei grew by over 25 times, to nearly 500. Scores more likely went unrecorded because they weren’t admitted to hospital in time to be diagnosed.

Two-Thirds of Cases are in Hubei
Another 1/3 are in the rest of China and less than 1% are elsewhere

Source: Data compiled by Bloomberg from official sources, as of Feb. 5

Zhang Yaru’s grandmother was turned away from hospital at the end of January because her symptoms were mild. She slipped into a coma shortly after and died without being diagnosed.

“She didn’t manage to say a word to us before she died, she probably had no idea what happened,” said Zhang, a native of E’Zhou, a smaller city adjacent to Wuhan that’s also being quarantined. “Our family is now driven into a corner, desperate, all my family members are potentially infected and my grandfather is showing the same symptoms.”

While virus cases within Hubei province are still growing by the thousands every day, infections are slowing in the rest of China -- an early sign that the aggressive containment may have worked to limit the coronavirus’ spread nationally and globally.

China Will Soon Find Out If Lockdown of 50 Million Halted Virus

Daily Life In Wuhan During Lockdown
Cleaners wash the street with a high-pressure water gun in Wuhan on Feb. 3.Photographer: Getty Images
The quarantine was the right thing to do for the good of the wider population, said the doctor at the Third People’s Hospital. “Some may say Hubei was sacrificed, but it did effectively stem the spread to elsewhere.”

The quarantine in Hubei dwarfs previous efforts in other parts of the world. In Liberia in 2014, an impoverished neighborhood of about 70,000 people was shut off during an Ebola outbreak, triggering violent riots. As the lockdown continues with no end in sight, it’s raising ethical and legal questions.

CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS
Medical supplies at a makeshift hospital converted from an exhibition center in Wuhan, Feb. 3.Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
“The lockdown may be necessary to contain the spread of the virus, but you have to ensure there’s enough medical resources to meet the demand for care in those cities,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University Law School. “The lockdown shouldn’t mean the city gets deserted and people are left to survive or die on their own.”

Top Priority
Reports of potentially preventable deaths in Hubei exacerbated by the quarantine restrictions have been coursing through China, said Yanzhong Huang, director of the Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Comparing the “draconian measures” in Hubei to the mass surveillance prevalent in China that would seem intolerable to many in the west, he said: “If you ask Chinese people, 8 out of 9 will say they can live with that.”

In the days after the quarantine order, China’s government sent medical assistance into the province, while maintaining restrictions on people leaving.

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More than 8,000 medical workers from across the country have gone into Hubei, mostly to the 27 hospitals in Wuhan designated for treating coronavirus patients. The rest have fanned out to smaller cities nearby. Two new hospitals, with 2,600 beds in total, were completed in 10 days, built by more than 2,000 migrant workers, while stadiums, offices and hotels are being converted into isolation units.

But hospitals in Hubei are still short of supplies, said a doctor working in the testing department at the Wuhan Tongji hospital. He also declined to give his name on concern he’d face backlash.

TOPSHOT-CHINA-HEALTH-VIRUS
Workers set up beds at an exhibition center that was converted into a hospital in Wuhan, Feb. 4.Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
“Things are improving, but we are really over-loaded and running diagnostic tests 24-7, and still struggle to complete them,” the doctor said on Tuesday. “I think we have not reached the peak of infections yet.”

No Blame
For those seeking help and medical care in Hubei, resignation has set in -- there has been markedly little unrest in the province despite the circumstances. The idea of sacrificing one’s self for a greater, national goal is deeply-embedded in Chinese culture, and is invoked by the country’s leaders in times of hardship.

Daily Life In Wuhan During Lockdown
A worker rests at a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, Feb. 4.Photographer: Getty Images
People are queuing for eight hours just to get tested for the coronavirus, said the college graduate, John Chen, who’s 23. His feverish mother is yet to be tested.

“At first I was upset that the hospitals and officials I called for help weren’t willing to do their job, but later I realized that it’s not that they are unwilling to help, but that everywhere is way too short of resources,” he said.

“I don’t blame anyone, because if you grow up in China, you learn that’s how the system works.”

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Mike J
Edit by Moderator MikeJ - Added the lengthy article

[GeoffH]

I know there was an article saying how the primary infection mode for the Novel Corona virus is from the fish market and that person to person infection was a lesser (or indeed minor) factor but I suspect that's a reflection of the origin point of the disease and the percentage of direct infection cases will drop over time.

This hypothesis is I believe supported by the gradually increasing number of reports of cases which appear to be from person to person infection (like the ones linked below).

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/wuhan-virus-coronavirus-south-korea-cases-12394934

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/wuhan-coronavirus-quarantine-lockdown-containment-mitigation-how-12394178

Edited February 6, 2020 by GeoffH

[Dave Hounddriver]

I sure wish we could get accurate info.  Last time I read the BBC news it was saying this Corona virus is not as bad as all the misinformation says.  NOW they are saying that the healthy, young 34 year old doctor who first reported this has died of the virus.

Think about that.  A 34 year old with all the hospital facilities possible died from this.  How many of us old retirees in the Philippines would do any better if we contracted this virus?  On the surface of it this sounds as bad as Ebola (just a thought that comes to mind with no scientific basis).

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51403795

 

[Marvin Boggs]

As you are all pointing out, something smells 'fishy' and the official explanation is not adding up.  I propose that the official narrative is just a story they are being told to push out to the masses.  And if you really are concerned about how this could play out, that you research some of the 'other' things that have been written so far about this virus.  

-likely stolen in 2012 from a Canadian research lab by the Chinese

-likely modified with HIV components in the Chinese lab in Wuhan

-likely that lab is actually for bio weapons research, not just medical research

-likely the virus got out of the lab, rather than organically appeared at the Wuhan market, much like SARS and MERS did

 

It gets even better when you look at which foundation contributed to the 'study' of the virus, and which foundations will contribute to finding a vaccine.  I would say they should make a movie about this someday, but it already sounds like a movie script!  

[Guy F.]

On 2/4/2020 at 11:13 AM, Dave Hounddriver said:

Are you suggesting they gave us the Wong numbers?

 

[Mike J]

Here is something that I do not yet understand.  Perhaps someone on the forum has a good answer.   Based on the attached screenshot there are 30,830 confirmed cases, resulting in 634 total deaths and 1,487 total recoveries.   So what is the status of the remaining 28K plus confirmed cases?  Are they still sick or are many more now recovered and not being counted as recovered due to slow follow up?  If still sick how many of them will end up in the total death column?   And finally, If they cannot account for the 28K plus that may, or may not, still be sick then how are saying there could be a 1 to 3 percent fatality rate?  Is the true fatality rate an optimistic WAG at this point.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6