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[QQT: COVID KILLER FOUND?]
1/21
Just received this as a forward. Breakthrough treatment for COVID-19, it announces. Very upbeat, very positive. Not sure if our media has picked up on it yet. If not, very sure they will. Soon.
![[QQT: COVID KILLER FOUND?]1/21Just received this as a forward. Breakthrough treatment for COVID-19, it announces. Very upbeat, very positive. Not sure if our media has picked up on it yet. If not, very sure they will. Soon.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ey1wxgVUcAUAjOo.jpg "[QQT: COVID KILLER FOUND?]1/21Just received this as a forward. Breakthrough treatment for COVID-19, it announces. Very upbeat, very positive. Not sure if our media has picked up on it yet. If not, very sure they will. Soon.")
1/21
Just received this as a forward. Breakthrough treatment for COVID-19, it announces. Very upbeat, very positive. Not sure if our media has picked up on it yet. If not, very sure they will. Soon.
2/21
Okay, looks like they’ve already begun. Sure, not the biggies yet but hang in there, they’ll follow. For now, we have a fluff piece in Swarajya Mag, and two others in Mint and Amar Ujala, respectively.
Okay, looks like they’ve already begun. Sure, not the biggies yet but hang in there, they’ll follow. For now, we have a fluff piece in Swarajya Mag, and two others in Mint and Amar Ujala, respectively.
3/21
This quick, quick thread is to just help you tame your enthusiasm. It’s easy for pieces like these to toss us into a false sense of optimism, which is exactly what makes a close objective examination an imperative.
Here, I attempt to do just that.
This quick, quick thread is to just help you tame your enthusiasm. It’s easy for pieces like these to toss us into a false sense of optimism, which is exactly what makes a close objective examination an imperative.
Here, I attempt to do just that.
4/21
Let’s start with the trials. Right off the bat, the piece speaks of a phase 2 study with inspiring results. Problem is, I failed to find any reference to the results in any medical journal. Not even the first phase, much less second.
Let’s start with the trials. Right off the bat, the piece speaks of a phase 2 study with inspiring results. Problem is, I failed to find any reference to the results in any medical journal. Not even the first phase, much less second.
5/21
Funny the articles don’t link to any such paper either. Forget peer-review, there’s not even a prepub to be found. You’d expect a business to never stop flashing a study like that should the results be this revolutionary, even if just for PR.
Funny the articles don’t link to any such paper either. Forget peer-review, there’s not even a prepub to be found. You’d expect a business to never stop flashing a study like that should the results be this revolutionary, even if just for PR.
6/21
Dr. Stephen Winchester of Frimley Park Hospital and Dr. Isaac John of St. Peter’s Hospital conducted this study, the article says.
That’s legit. Both hospitals are part of the NHS network.
Dr. Stephen Winchester of Frimley Park Hospital and Dr. Isaac John of St. Peter’s Hospital conducted this study, the article says.
That’s legit. Both hospitals are part of the NHS network.
7/21
However, while Dr. John doesn’t seem to have any peer-reviewed paper to his credit, at least none that I could find on Google, Dr. Winchester has eight. Not a single one of those on the study in question, though.
Moving on... https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Winchester/
However, while Dr. John doesn’t seem to have any peer-reviewed paper to his credit, at least none that I could find on Google, Dr. Winchester has eight. Not a single one of those on the study in question, though.
Moving on... https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Winchester/
8/21
So what IS this wonderdrug anyway?
SaNOtize, the company behind it, claims to have created a nasal spray that helps treat COVID-19 by killing the virus.
The phase 2 study (no reference to phase one anywhere in the articles) was conducted on 79 COVID-positive subjects.
So what IS this wonderdrug anyway?
SaNOtize, the company behind it, claims to have created a nasal spray that helps treat COVID-19 by killing the virus.
The phase 2 study (no reference to phase one anywhere in the articles) was conducted on 79 COVID-positive subjects.
9/21
The article further goes on to say that the spray reduced viral load in the subjects by as much as 99% in just 3 days!
Hallelujah!
But wait, 79 subjects? Am no expert, so I am invite those who are to comment on that. At a glance this seems like a rather small sample size.
The article further goes on to say that the spray reduced viral load in the subjects by as much as 99% in just 3 days!
Hallelujah!
But wait, 79 subjects? Am no expert, so I am invite those who are to comment on that. At a glance this seems like a rather small sample size.
10/21
So again, what IS this thing?
Nitric Oxide. SaNOtize calls it NONS or Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray.
Now the question is, does nitric oxide really kill coronavirus?
A 2005 study confirms this for SARS-CoV, predecessor to SARS-CoV-2. https://jvi.asm.org/content/79/3/1966
So again, what IS this thing?
Nitric Oxide. SaNOtize calls it NONS or Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray.
Now the question is, does nitric oxide really kill coronavirus?
A 2005 study confirms this for SARS-CoV, predecessor to SARS-CoV-2. https://jvi.asm.org/content/79/3/1966
11/21
That’s promising. What could kill the SARS virus, should be able to kill the COVID one. At least theoretically.
Then another study came out this month, this time specific to the novel coronavirus.
https://www.medscape.com/answers/2500114-197460/what-is-the-role-of-nitric-oxide-in-the-treatment-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19
That’s promising. What could kill the SARS virus, should be able to kill the COVID one. At least theoretically.
Then another study came out this month, this time specific to the novel coronavirus.
https://www.medscape.com/answers/2500114-197460/what-is-the-role-of-nitric-oxide-in-the-treatment-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19
12/21
Besides novel coronavirus, this study was also specific to inhaled nitric oxide. The project had recruited nearly 200 volunteers for its phase 3 trials. Of these, only a hundred could be studied before the trial had to be placed on hold.
Why?
Besides novel coronavirus, this study was also specific to inhaled nitric oxide. The project had recruited nearly 200 volunteers for its phase 3 trials. Of these, only a hundred could be studied before the trial had to be placed on hold.
Why?
13/21
I don’t know. What I do know is what the prepub admits towards the end of its abstract: That “the Society of Critical Care Medicine recommends against the routine use of iNO in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.”
I don’t know. What I do know is what the prepub admits towards the end of its abstract: That “the Society of Critical Care Medicine recommends against the routine use of iNO in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.”
14/21
As of today, this study remains incomplete and inconclusive.
So where does that leave us with SaNOtize’s NONS inhaler?
Exactly where we were. Unsure.
You might wonder where the articles even came from in the first place then.
As of today, this study remains incomplete and inconclusive.
So where does that leave us with SaNOtize’s NONS inhaler?
Exactly where we were. Unsure.
You might wonder where the articles even came from in the first place then.
15/21
Let’s go right to the bottom of it all then. The official FIRST press release. This is where it all began, on the official SaNOtize website: https://sanotize.com/press-releases/
Let’s go right to the bottom of it all then. The official FIRST press release. This is where it all began, on the official SaNOtize website: https://sanotize.com/press-releases/
16/21
The latest link on the page is to the Businesseire article dated March 15. That’s the same article I mention in the beginning of this thread. https://sanotize.com/press-releases/
The latest link on the page is to the Businesseire article dated March 15. That’s the same article I mention in the beginning of this thread. https://sanotize.com/press-releases/
17/21
From here, the article was picked up by none other than Reuters.
“Israel, NZ give interim approval for sale of virus nasal spray, company says”
But go beyond the headlines and things unfold rather quickly. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2BE267
From here, the article was picked up by none other than Reuters.
“Israel, NZ give interim approval for sale of virus nasal spray, company says”
But go beyond the headlines and things unfold rather quickly. https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2BE267
18/21
Right off the bat, the headline itself disavows the whole thing with a “company says” ending. And should that fall short, here’s the NZ government itself disavowing the extraordinarily tall claim. In the same article.
Right off the bat, the headline itself disavows the whole thing with a “company says” ending. And should that fall short, here’s the NZ government itself disavowing the extraordinarily tall claim. In the same article.
19/21
Neither @AmarUjalaNews, nor @SwarajyaMag felt it necessary to include this small caveat lest it ruin the sensation. The @livemint piece did manage to do the right thing though, as did @WIONews.
Neither @AmarUjalaNews, nor @SwarajyaMag felt it necessary to include this small caveat lest it ruin the sensation. The @livemint piece did manage to do the right thing though, as did @WIONews.
20/21
So far, there’s claims of a UK/Canada application too, but neither of the governments has approved it yet. Israel is another country that’s claimed to have already approved the spray for sale, but this too could be a generic, non pharmaceutical approval like that of NZ.
So far, there’s claims of a UK/Canada application too, but neither of the governments has approved it yet. Israel is another country that’s claimed to have already approved the spray for sale, but this too could be a generic, non pharmaceutical approval like that of NZ.
21/21
Does it mean the whole thing is a sham? I wouldn’t say that. Just that there’s no study report to confirm its claims and that no government on Earth has so far confirmed it to be a working medicine.
Sorry to be the killjoy but this reminds me of Shycocan.
Does it mean the whole thing is a sham? I wouldn’t say that. Just that there’s no study report to confirm its claims and that no government on Earth has so far confirmed it to be a working medicine.
Sorry to be the killjoy but this reminds me of Shycocan.
