A modern world
The most important news in healthcare: Tuesday, May 19
Good morning. Today we’re covering the first results of a coronavirus vaccine in humans, and a Google AI algorithm that can predict blindness better than doctors. So maybe when the robots eventually do take over, at least we’ll be vaccinated?
Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine shows early promise
The pulse:
In an 8-person trial, a vaccine produced by Boston-based drug maker Moderna Inc. was shown to generate a protective immune response against the coronavirus.
What’s the data, and how should I interpret it?
Moderna tested four patients on low doses and four patients on high doses of the vaccine. People who received the low dose developed protective antibodies against the virus consistent with those measured in people who have recovered from Covid-19, while people who received the higher doses developed antibodies that “significantly exceeded” recovered patients.
Physicians have hypothesized that these protective antibodies could prevent contraction of the virus for a year or more.
In its statement, the company said that the vaccine was safe and well-tolerated.
How does the vaccine work?
Moderna’s vaccine takes advantage of messenger RNA (mRNA), the set of genetic instructions that viruses use to replicate and take over human cells. Human cells, when exposed to this mRNA, follow its instructions and produce small amounts of non-infectious virus in the body, which allows the immune system to produce a sustained defensive response. While the methodology is scientifically sound, there is no precedent for a vaccine like this.
Moderna figured out the exact makeup of the coronavirus mRNA and started testing it in humans a warp-speed 63 days later. For context, following the outbreak of SARS in 2002, it took roughly 20 months to get a vaccine to the first stage of human testing.
What’s the reaction?
There’s a lot of excitement. Moderna’s stock, which was at $18.23 in February, now trades at $80.00, pushing the company’s valuation from six billion to thirty billion dollars in three months. The broader market rose 3% on the news.
This is a significant step, as it’s the first human data for a coronavirus vaccine. There’s a long way to go, however, from eight patients. Moderna has already begun larger studies and recently announced a 10-year deal with a contract drugmaker in Switzerland to manufacture one billion doses a year.
Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s Chief Medical Officer, said that he hopes some doses of the vaccine will become available for widespread use by early 2021.
Bottom line it for me.
It’s only eight patients, but Moderna’s data is the most promising vaccine news we’ve seen since the pandemic began.
Source: Studyfinds.org.
AI is watching you…
The pulse:
A new artificial intelligence (AI) system developed by Google has been shown to predict the risk of blindness in high-risk patients better than most eye-specialists can.
Who are the patients this can be used for?
The AI system is for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. The program is designed to predict whether patients who have already lost sight in one eye are at risk for losing sight in the other eye.
How does this AI system work?
Google’s new system, like other forms of artificial intelligence, relies on analyzing large amounts of data in order to pick up on patterns that can help build an algorithm. Pictures from eye scans of nearly 3,000 patients with AMD were used to train and test the AI model. These thousands of images enable the AI system to recognize patterns in eye scans related to advanced AMD in new patients.
How good is it, really?
Very good. The computer system performed better than five out of six experts in predicting which patients would go on to lose vision in both eyes. There’s medical precedent for data like this — back in 2017, a Stanford study showed that an AI-based system rivaled board-certified dermatologists in successfully diagnosing skin cancer. Both of these studies point to the potential of AI to improve healthcare diagnostics in the future.
Bottom line it for me:
It may be time to see eye-to-eye with AI.
Rapidfire:
President Trump has announced that he is prophylactically taking hydroxychloroquine after his valet tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month. White House physician, Dr. Sean Conley, prescribed the drug, stating that he believed the benefit outweighed the risks.
Anxiety over public transportation may be inspiring Americans to become more active. Many bike shops are sold out and the U.S. is now facing a bicycle shortage.
Pfizer has released data on its experimental gene therapy trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a devastating muscular disease that renders most patients wheelchair-bound by age 12. The study only included nine patients, and had mixed results: while muscle function seemed to improve in most cases, three participants had serious side effects that led to hospitalization.