ImmunityBio/NantKwest
Let's say you dosed five mice with a vaccine candidate for Covid-19 and only two showed a potent neutralizing antibody response. You'd probably change the product or just drop it and move on, right? Well then you're not ImmunityBio or NantKwest, because they proudly published those results in a press release this week.
This company was on the Operation Warp Speed shortlist, but hasn't received funds yet. Guess this is their Hail Mary attempt at getting some of that sweet taxpayer cash being dished out to anyone with a showy Covid story.
Kodak
The decision by the federal government to proffer Kodak a letter of interest for $765M to domestically produce generic drugs was met with wide eyes, strange grins and general confusion among a public thought to be immune to such reactions at this point. It's not intuitive that film has a lot of overlap with heart medicine.
However, Kodak has historically been involved in chemicals and has facilities in which they could reasonably make simple generics, which are technically easy to make in most cases. (The hard part is following cGMPs). Still, the optics of awarding a contract with national security merit to an old-timey company like this is pretty funny. Maybe AOL will get a contract to create a new Covid tracking database.
Nura Bio
Received a $73M investment this week. So what will they do with all that bank? They're working on SARM1 inhibitors. Their research has shown that:
"SARM1 is an injury-activated, prodegenerative NAD hydrolase that is a central switch in the Wallerian degeneration pathway, driving catastrophic degeneration upon injury."
...they had us at Wallerian degeneration pathway.
Moderna
Apparently they removed or covered signs outside some of their facilities. After going out of their way to get as much press as possible, it's an odd pivot to say the least.
The Boston Globe dug in and asked why the sign outside the Cambridge, MA HQ was covered up. Moderna said it was because the landlord was doing building upgrades and they were just protecting the sign or some nonsense. However, no building permits were submitted for the location.
Then it turned out their facility 20 miles south in Norwood, MA also removed signage. They own that one, so can't be the landlord. Keeping a low profile may be a good idea - if only they would have recognized that months ago, right? Had to goose that stock price to get rich first.
Moderna also announced a $32-37 price point for smaller orders of their Covid vaccine, should it be approved. That sparked outrage online and around the country. What the hell is going on? People locked in their house for three months, scared for months after that, not going anywhere doing anything, dating, seeing family, etc and $35 is too high a price to pay to have your life back? Get the hell out.
We should be willing to pay hundreds for this vaccine. This is a rare drug for which we can plainly see the positives and do a very quick cost benefit analysis and say "yes!" - presuming it's safe and effective.
Granted, the government supported its creation/manufacturing, but know what? They also gave most of y'all $1200 plus many got an extra $600/wk for the past few months. Almost EVERYONE was government supported to some degree since March. 35 bucks is a steal.
