“””This therapeutic looks promising for those that are most sick. This could be a perfect compliment to HCQ.”””
Of course, this new stuff would not be needed if HCQ was readily available and prescribed as soon as a person was diagnosed as having covid.
In other words we don’t need the expensive new stuff if the cheap old stuff was used.
However, it's not going to be 100% effective for 100% of Wuhan-19 patients. And for those that progress to serious complications, this therapy looks promising.
As for cost, it appears as though this too may be "relatively" cheap since it's a "generic" of something that occurs naturally and was identified decades ago. Ironically, almost analogous to HCQ (quinine derivative).
In part...
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP) has been granted Fast Track Designation by FDA for the treatment of Critical COVID-19 with respiratory failure by FDA and has shown initial promise in FDA phase 2/3 clinical trials. Unfortunately, VIP has long been seen as an unattractive candidate for pharmaceutical development owing to its generic status as a natural peptide and its low cost of production, which limit its commercial potential and profitability. VIP may, however, be uniquely attractive from a global health perspective to combat the worst public health crisis since Spanish Flu killed more people than combat during World War I. VIP may also be the only candidate in human trials that could be produced at a cost structure that is compatible with the needs of the developing world.