A group of scientists and their wealthy backers are pushing their “unorthodox” solutions to help the Trump administration resolve the coronavirus pandemic.
The group, called the Scientists to Stop COVID-19 and backed by 33-year-old venture capitalist Tom Cahill, says it has assembled a “lockdown-era Manhattan Project” with solutions for the coronavirus.
In a report addressed to the public, 12 scientists, who specialize in neurobiology, epidemiology, nuclear science, immunobiology, and other fields, constructed a multiwave solution to the coronavirus, which involves therapies from existing drugs, potent antibody drugs, vaccines, and a parallel project to reopen the economy.
“The four proposals that follow describe: (1) How to rapidly repurpose an antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 patients; (2) How to expedite the development of human antibody drugs to treat patients and to provide short-term protection for healthy individuals; (3) How to develop COVID-19 vaccines on an expedited time scale; and (4) How to reopen our businesses and schools in a manner that reduces the risk of future outbreaks and deaths,” the letter reads.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs have already implemented several of the recommendations outlined in a detailed, 17-paged report, which was obtained by the outlet. Director of the National Institutes of Health Francis Collins purportedly told people that he agrees with most of the suggestions outlined in the report. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and members of the president’s Cabinet were also allegedly provided with copies of the report.
Cahill, who formed his own $125 million fund called Newpath Partners, says he was driven to assemble his team in early March due to the state of research on the coronavirus. “Science and medicine were the furthest things removed from everything happening,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
Cahill, with the help of investors such as Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel, organized a conference call among interested partners to pitch “unorthodox” solutions for the coronavirus. Advisers to the vice president were also reportedly on the call.
From there, Cahill was connected with Edward Scolnick, Merck & Co.’s former head of research and development, through a friend to assemble a scientific plan and a team. And it wasn’t long after that the group of scientists began holding multiple conference calls each day, with some reportedly holding seven or eight meetings via Zoom to discuss solutions. Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug previously touted by the president, was dismissed about potential drug therapies. The drug is given a passing mention in the group’s 17-page report.
The scientists identified “monoclonal antibody drugs that latch onto virus cells as the most promising treatment,” but faced initial red-tape pushback from the FDA, according to the Wall Street Journal. To make the antibody drug in large quantities, one drugmaking company, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, needed to move some of its manufacturing to Dublin. FDA regulations would typically require such an endeavor to take months to complete.
However, once Cahill contacted Nick Ayers, a longtime aide to Pence, Regeneron promptly received approval from the FDA to manufacture the drug abroad.
The scientific group is reportedly engaging in continuing talks to have their confidential plan implemented on a national level to alleviate both economic and public health concerns brought on by the coronavirus.
