It seems to me clinical trials can show if a drug is effective against disease in the real world but won't necessarily identify the mechanism the drug uses.
The trial may show ivermectin to be an effective anti-viral but whether that's because it's a protease inhibitor or something else would be answered in the lab or by modeling.
RE: It seems to me clinical trials can show if a drug is effective against disease in the real world but won’t necessarily identify the mechanism
the drug uses
If Pfizer can, by clinical trial, determine that its drug works as a protease inhibitor, why can’t a similar trial be used to determine if Ivermectin can also act the same way given the in vitro and modeling studies do show this?
“ answered in the lab or by modeling”
Hence the “in silico” modeling that’s going on.