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> In rhinovirus, a virus causing the common cold, a similar pocket was exploited to develop potent small molecules that bound tightly to the pocket distorting t
by jxcl 6y ago
> In rhinovirus, a virus causing the common cold, a similar pocket was exploited to develop potent small molecules that bound tightly to the pocket distorting the structure of the rhinovirus, stopping its infectivity. These small molecules were successfully used as anti-viral drugs in human trials, defeating rhinovirus in the clinic.
So why isn't there a cure for the common cold? If there still isn't a cure for the common cold, why should we expect this drug target to be different?
Surely whoever wrote this article should have anticipated these questions?
(Edited to be less flippant)
- gostsamo 6y agoOn the other hand, Oracle is mentioned twice, in case we didn't spot it the first time.
- yobert 6y agoThe Oracle plugs are hilarious. "Enabled by Oracle high-performance cloud computing, a 3-D structure of SARS CoV-2 Spike protein was generated allowing the researchers to peer deep inside the Spike identifying its molecular composition." As if the cloud provider had anything to do with anything there.
- function_seven 6y agoI only trust IBM® Watson™️ Brand clinical research.
- craftinator 6y agoI heard Watson cured all of cancer!
- goldcd 6y agoNow it's quite clearly a plug - but serious amounts of compute power are required for protein analysis, and chucking cloud at it is a pretty good way of doing that. Look at Folding@Home
- HappySweeney 6y agoSure, but they intimate that only Oracle could get the job done.
- Quarrelsome 6y agoOracle cloud must be absolute garbage given how hard its being marketed. Didn't part of the US deal with Tiktok _force_ the application into using Oracle cloud as part of the deal? I have a lot of sympathies for the TikTok devs if its not very good as its now mandatory. Its like instead of building something good or getting techie buy in they've instead tried to lobby governments to make it mandatory for some enslaved customers.
- mdifrgechd 6y ago> Its like instead of building something good or getting techie buy in they've instead tried to lobby governments to make it mandatory for some enslaved customers Haha, yes, you are literally describing the business model of SAP, Oracle, IBM, and most sales-led enterprise software or services companies. You can replace "lobby governments" with "lobby c-level of large corporations" as well
- rossdavidh 6y agoI do recall Microsoft using a similar tactic to try to get Windows Mobile more widely used.
- stateofnounion 6y agoDon't tug too hard at that thread, the entire narrative might unravel.
- IgorPartola 6y agoWhat does that mean?
- inscionent 6y agoFeels like an AD. No real author. Most of the paragraphs are long quotes with no follow up or analysis. Suspicious product placement.
- skim_milk 6y agoThe common cold isn't any specific virus, it's a huge range of viruses that cause "cold" symptoms. Some coronaviruses cause "colds" as well. Common cold viruses are research targets to discover knowledge that can be weaponized to prevent pandemics.
- mquirion 6y agoI almost never comment, but the answer here is simple: markets. The common cold doesn't kill. There's almost no economic impetus for a cure. Note, I said "almost." There may be some, but there's still not enough to drive R&D in a corporate lab, and certainly not enough to drive policy in a government lab. There are 100 other questions that would follow from science to logistic once you answer: Can we create a drug that kills infection in clinical tests?
- newsbinator 6y agoSurely there's a Nobel Prize in it though?
- throwmeaway_pls 6y agoNyQuil’s and Alka Seltzer’s sales figures beg to differ.
- karlshea 6y agoThose aren’t cures.
- lm28469 6y agoYou'll make much more money selling symptoms relievers every years than fixing the issue once and for all.
- grahamburger 6y agoYou'd make a lot more money selling a yearly treatment that prevented the symptoms entirely. I probably spend $50/year on cold-symptom medications. I'd easily spend $100/year to just not get a cold in the first place.
- mquirion 6y agoNyQuil and Alka Seltzer would beg you not to kill the cash cows. Plus NyQuil and AS can be produced and sold in such a way as to net a profit. We don't know that's the case for a cold cure.
- eximius 6y agohttps://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000281 https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou... It might be from 2019 so there may simply have not been enough time.
- whymauri 6y agoDefinitely not enough time for traditional pharma to have actionable, public insights.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- wittyreference 6y ago>> So why isn't there a cure for the common cold? The "common cold" refers to a benign, self-limited upper respiratory viral infection by over 200 viral subtypes, including many strains of coronavirus (causing collectively 10-15% of colds), adenovirus, enteroviruses (echovirus, coxsackievirus) rhinovirus (over 100 serotypes, collectively causing 30-50% of colds), metapneumovirus, bocavirus, influenza and parainfluenza viruses (~5% of colds each), and respiratory syncytial virus (another 5%). I think this is general lay knowledge. Certainly, any article that uses the words "glycoprotein" is aiming at the sort of audience that knows "common cold is a syndrome caused by a buncha different viruses."
- nashequilibrium 6y agoWhen I go for the usual flu vaccine in November, how would I know which strains its protecting me against?
- liability 6y agoThere is no "usual flu vaccine", they make a new one twice a year, meant to address whatever strain is in circulation.
- wittyreference 6y agoI think they meant when they go for their regularly scheduled -"usual" flu vaccine, and their question was meant to address what strains would be targeted in a given year.
- wittyreference 6y agoThere's cross-reactivity, and they target both Influenza A and Influenza B strains (usually), so you'll get broader protection than strictly the strains most targeted by the vaccine. That said, you can ask the pharmacist for a copy of the FDA package insert, or google it yourself for the specific vaccine they're giving you. The package insert, under "DESCRIPTION" (Section 11), should tell you the precise strains that the antigens were developed from. For example, google "FLUVIRIN fda package insert",and the one for the 2017/2018 flu season on page 8 you'll find "A/Singapore/GP1908/2015,IVR-180 (an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09- like virus; A/Hong Kong/4801/2014, NYMC X-263B (H3N2) (an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014- like virus); and B/Brisbane/60/2008, wild type (a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus)". Google the same document for Fluzone quadrivalent, and you should find, for the 2020/2021 flu season, the strains "A/Guangdong-Maonan/SWL1536/2019 CNIC-1909 (H1N1), A/Hong Kong/2671/2019 IVR-208 (H3N2), B/Phuket/3073/2013 (B Yamagata lineage), and B/Washington/02/2019 (B Victoria lineage)" on pg 21.
- leptons 6y ago>These small molecules were successfully used as anti-viral drugs in human trials, defeating rhinovirus in the clinic. Because it's still in trials, and not widely available, due to the long process of approving such medicines. It still seems possible that there will be a drug that can be used to combat rhinovirus, as well as coronavirus someday, possibly sooner rather than later.