"Researchers have developed", yeah. When I read such things, I always recall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimerox - this thing promised wonders - very broad spectrum, very low toxicity - and, most importantly, it was targeting a conservative essential protein - so nearly zero resistance. And there were no updates for more than a decade.
Something developed in a lab is something we, most likely, will never see - and will never know why the thing didn't reach the 2nd stage (or the 1st).
I agree... Medication Resistant bacteria is a problem everywhere. There's probably no money in a new antibiotic, but... Having something new to fight TB would be nice, and there's still prestige, even if you "just" brought it to market and didn't discover it.
I would think there are pharma teams in China or India, maybe even Russia that could replicate and further develop something like this, given the initial paper and PR.
It was pretty common for message board users to come together to do group buys for novel research chemical synthesis 15-20 years ago. Not sure why things like this would be any different.
It depends - if someone uses the same compound but provably for a different indication (like maybe anti-periodontic diseases or something) or for a different intake mechanism, they could get another patent and proceed with trials.
Granted, it's not going to be easy because the original patent has expired so it's going to be very easy for an upstart Indian company to conduct basic clinical trials, use part of the data of the second patent's holder to prove equivalency (they did this test so we don't need to do this test), and then get approved through an accelerated pathway in the FDA. Which is why even well-capitalized players will shy away from what could be a cash cow.
This is because a broad spectrum antibiotic with low resistance is an essential public good that will likely rapidly be made generic by either legal action or international disregard for copyright law. So no major pharma companies will want to invest resources into the development of something like this, and governments are not under the gun enough to produce new abx to invest the billions needed to get it through the approval process. The compromise is to leave it sitting at this phase until some disaster creates enough public incentive to socialize the completion of its development.
If you’ve ever wondered why the symbol of health is a snake spiraling a staff (the Greek god Asclepius’s staff to be specific), it’s because in Ancient Greece they used small amounts of snake venom to treat serious illnesses
I always assumed what I felt was obvious: Numbers 21:4-9, where God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and place it on a pole to heal Israelites dying from poisonous snake bites.
I was taught that the symbol came from Egypt, specifically a reference to standard guinea worm treatment whereby the worm was extracted from under the skin by winding it around a stick.
There’s also electroacupuncture, which is gaining popularity in physical therapy clinics in the US.
> Like traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture uses needles placed in the same spots. Then, a small electrode is attached to the needles. A small amount of electricity runs through the electrode and gives a slight vibration or soft hum during treatment. (1)
Since they use the same spots as traditional acupuncture even now, I would think traditional acupuncture does work to some degree.
I read a paper that basically said that the spot itself didn't matter so much, that part was voodoo, but the needling produced a response from your body that helped.
They also did an episode about rapamycin that I thought was really cool. I had no idea the history of it and found it fascinating and it really gets the imagination going thinking about what other things are hidden all around us.
That article doesn’t explain why acupuncture works, just gives a hint of a possible mechanism. It also doesn’t contain any evidence that acupuncture works at all (other than as a placebo).
I am addicted to hot peppers. What I do in the morning is get one Scotch Bonnet (or two smaller ones), two oranges, lime and a piece of ginger into a cold press and then drink it in one go.
Can't describe it exactly, but it's like being transported to another dimension for a few seconds, then there is pain, then there is relief and then a nice warm feeling in the belly.
I don't generally love super spicy food (the most I do like 95% of the time is the Taco Bell Fire Sauce), but every now and than I want something really spicy.
I'm not sure why this is the case, but I'll go to a place with some Habanero sauce and get that on a meal. It will hurt (and my time in the bathroom the next day might be a little unpleasant), but it satisfies the urge.
I too am addicted to hot peppers. But doesn't this... IDK, it seems like it would mess up my stomach or esophagus lining or something. All that acid and capsaicin on an empty stomach?
Something developed in a lab is something we, most likely, will never see - and will never know why the thing didn't reach the 2nd stage (or the 1st).
One thing bugs me though - why don't other countries with different research structures pick this up and run with it?
I would think there are pharma teams in China or India, maybe even Russia that could replicate and further develop something like this, given the initial paper and PR.
https://www.cremieux.xyz/p/the-rise-and-impending-fall-of-th...
The patents expired, so nobody can raise the hundreds of millions to do the phase II/III safety trials.
Granted, it's not going to be easy because the original patent has expired so it's going to be very easy for an upstart Indian company to conduct basic clinical trials, use part of the data of the second patent's holder to prove equivalency (they did this test so we don't need to do this test), and then get approved through an accelerated pathway in the FDA. Which is why even well-capitalized players will shy away from what could be a cash cow.
We’ve come full circle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracunculiasis
> Like traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture uses needles placed in the same spots. Then, a small electrode is attached to the needles. A small amount of electricity runs through the electrode and gives a slight vibration or soft hum during treatment. (1)
Since they use the same spots as traditional acupuncture even now, I would think traditional acupuncture does work to some degree.
(1) https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/cbd-cbn-what-is-differ...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48095536
https://radiolab.org/podcast/interstitium
They also did an episode about rapamycin that I thought was really cool. I had no idea the history of it and found it fascinating and it really gets the imagination going thinking about what other things are hidden all around us.
https://radiolab.org/podcast/dirty-drug-and-ice-cream-tub
[0] https://xkcd.com/1217/
Can't describe it exactly, but it's like being transported to another dimension for a few seconds, then there is pain, then there is relief and then a nice warm feeling in the belly.
I'm not sure why this is the case, but I'll go to a place with some Habanero sauce and get that on a meal. It will hurt (and my time in the bathroom the next day might be a little unpleasant), but it satisfies the urge.