6 ms·
Soluble ACE2 shows promise for treating severe Covid19
- gfodor 6y agoWhen the first study started for this in February I was always optimistic this would both work and be cheap and easy to mass produce - it was the method I was hoping for and betting on. I've been disappointed to not see more news about this, I wonder what happened.
- SftwreEngnr 6y agoIf only they'd listened to you!
- dharma1 6y agoThis looked like one of the most promising therapeutics early on, was wondering what happened to it. Here's a great breakdown of how it works by the founder of Apeiron, Dr Joseph Penninger, from March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAW6VBWTiAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAW6VBWTiAA It has been since discovered that there are other receptors/pathways too for SARS-CoV-2 to enter the cell, but it's still unclear which ones are the main culprits. https://theconversation.com/a-second-pathway-into-cells-for-sars-cov-2-new-understanding-of-the-neuropilin-1-protein-could-speed-vaccine-research-148497 https://theconversation.com/a-second-pathway-into-cells-for-...
- sradman 6y agoI too tried to follow the progress of Apeiron's APN01 which started to get news coverage at the end of February due to a University of British Columbia press release [1]. This pre-existing therapeutic was created out of SARS-CoV-1 research and I expected a SARS-CoV-2 trial to be accelerated. It never happened. There is a story to be told here. Either a missed opportunity, incompetence, or a complete misunderstanding on my part of what a promising COVID-19 therapeutic looks like. [1] https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/pilot-clinical-trial-in-china-to-test-ubc-researchers-findings-as-a-targeted-therapy-for-covid-19/ https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/pilot-clinical-trial-in-china-to...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- newsbinator 6y agoI wonder if this would theoretically work just as well on the new Mink mutated version as well.
- dharma1 6y agoAFAIK the way soluble ACE2 therapy works is you flood the body with "dummy" targets for SARS-CoV-2 to bind to instead of real cells, to slow down the virus infecting more and more cells. As long as the spike of the new mink strains still binds to ACE2, it should provide some benefit.
- sokoloff 6y ago(My biology background is incredibly weak.) How would this work? How much medicine would you need to take to get enough dummy targets in your system to make a difference?
- dharma1 6y agoI don't know the doses, but the procedure and effects are described in the linked article. Previous studies have shown human soluble ACE2 can reduce viral load by a factor of 1,000-5,000. "Nine days after the onset of symptoms, the patient received hrsACE2 twice daily for 5 min by intravenous infusion. Administration of hrsACE2 was continued as scheduled for 7-days and was well tolerated with no clear drug-related side effects. A marked reduction in serum angiotensin II levels with concomitant increases in angiotensin 1–7, angiotensin 1–9, and their metabolite angiotensin 1–5 was observed after the first dose of hrsACE2. These changes were sustained through the observation period. Significant ACE2 activity was observed 7-days after administration of the last dose of hrsACE2. In addition, marked decreases in the concentrations of critical cytokines implicated in COVID-19 pathology to include interleukin IL-6, chemokine IL-8, as well as the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product, the inflammation marker ferritin, tumor necrosis factor α, surfactant protein-D, C-reactive protein, and angiopoietin 2 were observed. The copy number of SAR-CoV-2 decreased dramatically from 32,000 copies per mL 2 days before administration of hrsACE2 to 2,500 and 270 copies per mL after the first and second day of hrsACE2 treatment, respectively, with rapid clearance from the patient’s plasma during daily testing until the end of the observation period. Furthermore, hrsACE2 injection did not reduce the generation of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG antibodies"
- CameronNemo 6y agoIs this technique patentable? Would be quite nice if it were not...
- londons_explore 6y agoIf it is not, it will encounter hurdles at every step, and probably never make it past initial trials. Nobody wants patent-free medicine except the public, and the public doesn't make decisions about drug safety...
- lm28469 6y ago> Nobody wants patent-free medicine except Except literally every single country on this planet because they all want to go out of lockdown and restart their economy
- hcknwscommenter 6y agoI know it seems hard to believe, but (IMHO) the existence of a patent will in no way encumber (and will actually help) the production, distribution, and administration of this drug if it works. Entities that actually have expertise and capability in clinical development of such complicated biologics get through this process by burning billions of dollars. These billions are provided by investors who must have some reasonable chance at making a profit (or at least not losing a lot of money). Non-profit enterprises simply don't have the money or the expertise. The government has no expertise in the development path. The U.S. gov't (through the FDA) has vast amounts of expertise in analyzing clinical trial proposals and data, but not actually running them.
- CameronNemo 6y agoProblem is that the benefits of license free medicine to society are diffuse, while the benefits of a licensing fee are concentrated. That makes lobbying and organization/cooperation much easier for the entity that is developing the medicine. The public is not as likely to organize their interests and establish a competent lobbying strategy. Just not enough in it for a single person for them to pay attention.
- 1024core 6y ago> we must be mindful that this represents a single observation.
- thro1 6y agoSimilar working of linoleic acid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMaKFcpV5wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMaKFcpV5wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB06uVA97zI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB06uVA97zI but.. 'linoleic acid is a precursor to arachidonic acid which is involved in inflamation'. Any news about zinc acetate (losenges) with zinc ionophores as hydroxychloroquine (in small doses, early) or quercetin pythosome (quercenase)? edit: (to downvoter: would you mind telling me where I'm wrong? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22627167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22627167 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22603462 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22603462 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22631469 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22631469 , as well quite promising)