9 ms·

Could you explain your reasoning or evidence for saying “ I'm optimistic that that speed of development of both treatments and vaccines will exceed the consensu

• nate_meurer 7y ago
  Just a feeling. I used to work in medical device testing, so I'm familiar with the layers of regulation that weigh down the pipeline. Even in normal times there's debate about whether it's too onerous. But now a lot of that shit's going to be cut out. For example, Moderna is skipping the animal safety trials, and starting with phase 1 human testing straight away. They say animal testing will proceed in parallel if a special new breed of mouse is ready in time. This, along with recent advancements in bioengineering will, I believe, lead to surprisingly rapid progress. (The best current mouse models for human coronavirus are not very good; the mice are generally resistant to the virus, so it's difficult to determine whether a vaccine or treatment is working.)
  • GordonS 7y ago
    Curious about this new breed of mice you mentioned - what's special about it.
    • nate_meurer 7y ago
      We learned from the SARS epidemic that there are no naturally occurring animals that match humans in terms of receptiveness to the virus, direct symptoms, and immune-enhanced damage. Here are a couple of articles that explain better than I can: https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/05/coronavirus-labs-scramble-to-find-right-animals-for-covid-19-studies/ https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/05/coronavirus-labs-scrambl... https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/11/researchers-rush-to-start-moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-trial-without-usual-animal-testing/ https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/11/researchers-rush-to-star...