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AstraZeneca plans its vaccine test on 50,000 enrolment

AstraZeneca Plc has begun a large-scale human trial of its coronavirus vaccine in the US

Earlier reports said the company planned to test on 30K but the latest is it’ll be a test on over 50k. 30k in the US, 20k elsewhere around the globe.
In the US the tests are being conducted with the assistance of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as one of the sites for the human trials. The plan is to begin trials with the volunteers on Tuesday, with tests to accelerate following the September 7 US Labor Day holiday.
How the tests will be conducted, in brief:
  • adults aged 18 years or over
  • from diverse racial, ethnic and geographic groups who are healthy or have stable underlying medical conditions, including those living with HIV, and who are at increased risk of infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus
  • participants are being randomized to receive two doses of either AZD1222 or a saline control, four weeks apart
  • twice as many participants receiving the potential vaccine than the saline control
  • trial is assessing the efficacy and safety of the vaccine in all participants, and local and systemic reactions and immune responses will be assessed in 3,000 participants.
  • late-stage clinical trials are ongoing in the UK, Brazil and South Africa and trials are planned to start in Japan and Russia.
Adds the company (bolding is mine):
  • Results from the late-stage trials are anticipated later this year, depending on the rate of infection within the clinical trial communities.
  • In July 2020, interim results from the ongoing Phase I/II COV001 trial were published in The Lancet and showed AZD1222 was tolerated and generated robust immune responses against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all evaluated participants.
AstraZeneca Plc has begun a large-scale human trial of its coronavirus vaccine in the US

‘Game changer’ COVID-19 test approved by the US FDA over the weekend

The US FDA authorised the emergency use of a new saliva based laboratory diagnostic test for coronavirus.

 A key difference is the speed of the test, its being described as a ‘game changer’.
The sped allows more people to access rapid easily.
Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drugs Administration Commissioner:
  • “Providing this type of flexibility for processing saliva samples to test for COVID-19 infection is groundbreaking in terms of efficiency and avoiding shortages of crucial test components like reagents”
Its called SalivaDirect
  • has been tested amongst US National Basketball Association (NBA) players and staff
  • simpler, less expensive, less invasive than nasopharyngeal (NP) swabbing
  • yields similar outcomes as NP swabbing
Current testing:
The US FDA authorised the emergency use of a new saliva based laboratory diagnostic test for coronavirus.
ps. For clarity, this is a test for the infection, not a treatment. That is clear above, but wanted to restate it.

US strikes $2.1 billion coronavirus vaccine deal with Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline

Sanofi, GSK selected for Operation Warp Speed

The deal will see the firms provide the US government with 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, with the US to provide up to $2.1 billion for development, clinical trials, manufacturing and the delivery of the initial batch of doses.

The US will also have a further option for a supply of additional 500 million doses of the vaccine in the longer-term. GSK adds that if study data are postive, the companies can request US regulatory approval some time in 1H 2021.
To put a bit of a timeline on things, phase 1/2 of the study is expected to start in September with Phase 3 set to be conducted by the end of the year.
That’s another win for both firms after having struck a deal with the UK government earlier in the week here.

Global recovery unlikely to be v-shaped, says Shell chief

The head of Shell spoke in an online interview, in a nutshell said that there will be no V-shaped recovery for the global economy after the coronavirus epidemic

  • this will  curtail oil and gas demand for years to come
Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell:
  • “Energy demand, and certainty mobility demand, will be lower even when this crisis is more or less behind us. Will it mean that it will never recover? It is probably too early to say, but it will have a permanent knock for years”
  • “It is most likely not going to be a v-shaped recovery.”
  • Shell & others have had to reduce spending sharply, postpone investment and will continue to do so “for some time to come”
via Reuters
The head of Shell spoke in an online interview, in a nutshell said that there will be no V-shaped recovery for the global economy after the coronavirus epidemic

The Gods are Human

Idolization is a basic function of human nature.  I don’t think it has to be proven any more.  From the little child that looks up to his or her older sibling or parent, to the full grown man sitting down on any given weekend watching his favorite sports figure in a state of awe, we all seem to idolize someone.  In my case any one of Jack Schwager’s personalities mentioned in his “Market Wizards” books,  Jessie Livermore, or any number of not so popular yet successful traders such as Chris Lori or Carolyn Boroden.  To distort Dylan’s words:  “it might be the devil, it might be the lord but your gonna have to <idolize> some one”.

In our natural idolization we forget that these extraordinary people are after all just people.  Even though in many cases they have been able to accomplish extraordinary things, in the end they are subject to the same influences to which we are subjected.  Though it may be hard to believe at times, yes they all put their pants on one leg at a time.

What the heck does this have to do with trading?  I’m glad you asked.

I notice that our trading terminology is littered with idolized lingo.  We talk of “smart money”, “institutional investors”, “market makers”, and such.  When we talk of these folks it’s as if they are gods that are somehow immune to the effects of human nature such as fear and greed.  I believe that it’s not so much that they are immune, as it is that they have learned to subdue and control their reactions.  They are active thinkers, not reactive thinkers.  Even then, they do all they do in a human body, with a human mind, that has human constraints and habits.

This tells me that even the “smart money” or the “institutional investor” is subject to patterns in his thinking and behavior.  The smartest of money managers goes to sleep at certain times of certain days of the week and is trading at certain times of the day.  Institutional guys have to create and deal with the markets patterns and behavior within the constraints of their own daily routines.  This creates opportunity for those willing to sit back and try to think about it. (more…)