Billionaire Bill Gates said that drugs to treat Covid -19 could significantly reduce the death rate by the end of 2020. He did, however, say that a vaccine would be crucial to restoring normalcy to society.
«You can see the therapeutic benefit faster than the protective benefit. So I think there's a good chance we'll have a significant reduction in the death rate by the end of the year with the combination of these new tools..»
The Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gatessaid thatRemdesivir was one of the best treatments in research for Covid-19. Remdesivir is an antiviral drug from Gilead Sciences that has been shown to reduce the risk of death for seriously ill coronavirus patients by 62% compared to standard care.
Gates said there are two other antivirals that scientists are testing, which can be given orally rather than infused by IV like the remdesivir treatment
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced in February that it intended to donate $100 million to Covid-19 vaccine research and treatment efforts, as part of the World Health Organization’s $675 million appeal to combat the spread of the virus. In June, the foundation pledged an additional $ 1.6 billion to the Gavi vaccine alliance , an organization focused on childhood immunization efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic
“I would also say that monoclonal antibodies are probably the most promising class… You have people like Regeneron, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca doing very strong work,” Gates told Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview on Monday.
Although these new treatments for Covid-19 will significantly help patients suffering from severe symptoms, Gates said they will not "lead us back to complete normalcy."
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German biotech BioNTech announced Monday that they have just begun late-stage human trials of their vaccine. Earlier this month, they said one of four candidate vaccines produced neutralizing antibodies, which researchers believe are necessary for building immunity to the virus. All participants received two doses of either 10 or 30 micrograms.
Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech received $ 1.95 billion in funding from the US government to produce and deliver 100 million doses of their vaccine, should it prove safe and effective.
Moderna avaccine, also announced Monday that it had received an additional $472 million in government. The company had previously received $483 million from the federal agency in April.
Bill Gates said he is “ excited about all the Covid -19 vaccines that the US has funded .”
The billionaire also stressed that it is important to convince the public to get the vaccine, if and when it becomes available. He said health experts need to send clear messages that the FDA "doesn't back down" and follows its professional safety process.
Bill Gates admitted he is "worried" but not surprised that people are concerned about the effectiveness and safety of the first Covid-19 vaccine.
