What The First 12 U.S. COVID-19 Patients Tell Us About Remdesivir

There is a recent paper out on COVID-19 patients that were monitored and treated in the U.S. (3 among them received Remdesivir). This paper is used by several analysts to doubt the effectiveness of Remdesivir. Which in turn resulted in a flurry of articles (here's one example) in the media casting doubt on the antiviral. I've gone through the paper and although it is not a resounding victory for Remdesivir, I actually think it was fairly positive and mostly in-line with what I think I know about this treatment and I explain below why.

I'm long Gilead Sciences (GILD), the company that owns the rights to Remdesivir, and understand I'm likely biased because of that. But, from an investment perspective, I'd be thrilled to find evidence that disproves my inclination that there's a high likelihood the antiviral is effective. Exiting before it falls back to the levels it traded at before COVID-19 levels is very valuable too. The last thing I want is to sit around waiting for upside that never materializes.

I'm about as far from a MD or virologist as one can be. But I'm not scared to read about things I don't understand. A lot of reading, searching and common sense can definitely enrich your perspective on an unproven drug like this that's being given to COVID-19 patients in trials and as a last resort.

"he was technically right that at this stage it is Hopium and the President acknowledged that it is hopeful, that Americans are looking for answers, and there is no harm in trying. President was right, reporter was technically right but an ass about it."

I don't knock the rest of your post, but PQL + Azithromycin is not "hopium".

Dr. Raoult's test group included French and also French repatriates (he cited Senegalese, and also Muslims returning from Mecca; the age-range spread was commensurate with the affected populations; he somewhat miraculously latched onto not one but two no-protocol populations from Nice and Avignon for his control group, at the exact right moment in the study; and 3 days after IHM ePub'd the results, France suspended the control group and opened the trial.

It wasn't a huge cohort but there is no doubt the treatment was efficacious in reducing the viral load. That's all he promised, and that's what it delivered.

I read Dr. Raoult's report and indeed he did a very good job.

But unfortunately the worldwide medical community votes and Dr. Raoult is only one vote.

That's why I called it Hopium and left off the added description that the results were very, maybe as much as extraordinarily, encouraging. Because that's been on the boards and in the twitterverse and it's not necessary to repeat it.

I don't like to fart in a room of well-dressed clean people but my training as a scientist taught me to think like a lawyer which ofttimes makes me ill as in fart with abandon.

To think like a lawyer means not only to think of the great wishful thinking of perfect justice but also to consider the downside where you lose. Only lawyers get paid in both outcome situations, bastards!

Back to French Brie, for example, some French doctors were instrumental in approving thalidomide for use in France knowing that no dosage was ever found that could kill a rat but nevertheless not knowing it would cause massive birth defects.

Now Chloroquine-Azithromycin is nowhere near to thalidomide in terms of harm. Chloroquine-Azithromycin's strong suit is it's safe universally when administered properly which is why it's prescribed and not sold OTC.

And there's no point to bashing French medicine because the only reason the US did not approve thalidomide was not because of superior prowess and talent at developing drugs at higher standards of safety, but rather because the head of the FDA at the time was an incompetent boob and was sloooow to act. So let's give a fartful plug for incompetent bureaucrats because in certain cases incompetence has its advantages.

The real antagonist in this drama is Dr. Fauci and his rah-rah cheerleading for vaccines with the Soros-Gates alliance of eugenics behind him. That's not even including Pandemic Queen Birx of the Deep State.

Listen to Polly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkHDj7eUb60

and the one she just released minutes ago on Fauci and that little sweetie WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uWriZEC8BQ&t=28s

Ahhhh.. such a role model that Tedros guy is. And Fauci thinks he's the best leader of everything since recorded time. Sniff! Why do I smell Obama?

First rule of tenure in federal bureaucracy: Master the art of kissing ass.

BTW Polly (not her real name) has an IQ of about 900 zillion or so.

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