TWiV 661: SWAG with Ralph Baric

September 10, 2020

Ralph Baric returns to TWiV to provide an update on the COVID-19 resurgence in the US, monoclonal antibodies, antiviral drugs, vaccines, immunity and reinfection, reopening schools, and what will happen this fall.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, Kathy Spindler and Brianne Barker

Guest: Ralph Baric

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Download TWiV 661 (70 MB .mp3, 116 min)
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Intro music is by Ronald Jenkees

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5 comments on “TWiV 661: SWAG with Ralph Baric

  1. AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine: Apparently late-stage trials had already begun in the U.K., Brazil, and South Africa (though a press release from Sept. 3 stated that it had only started in the U.K and Brazil). From the 5.000 enrolled subjects in Brazil many have already received the vaccine, with no adverse event.

  2. Gary Jennejohn Sep 10, 2020

    The podcast summary is good and hits the high points. Much easier than wading through the entire podcast.

  3. For me the gold here was Ralph’s judgment on the Astrazeneca trial and the potential validity of election day delivery of vaccines.

    With respect to Astrazeneca what are the odds of transverse myelitis vs the occurrence in this trial so early (1:1000000 vs ~1:20000 => this is not good.) This is why the Russian and Chinese rush to phase 4 is foolish… if brave. The potential of spike payload contributing to this makes the next case all the more worrisome. Hopefully there are none and Astrazeneca can get back to business on their trial. The pedantry of vector, payload and adjuvant was instructive. This sort of detail is nowhere in the media stories of this case and pause in the Astrazeneca trial.

    Regarding the election day calculations, I hadn’t thought about the prevalence and case study of the control and test populations, It all depends how fast the controls report back. We do indeed need to get our Texan bar buddies enrolled ASAP. This round is on me.

    The antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) data calculation is clearly out of the picture by election day which makes that endpoint at least invalid. Even still that ADE calculation is qualified as dependent on the genetic susceptibility of trial members and potential skew in neutralizing antibody titers in these susceptible members.

    Six months ago… I would never have conceived I would understand much less type out that last sentence. I understand it now thanks to curiosity, lock down and TWiV.

    The judgment that reading deeply, studying, teaching, hypothesizing and experimenting yields… that is what is so intriguing listening in on these conversations. It helps my own intuition. More than anything it inspires my reading and thinking about our world.

    It diverts my mind from wild fires as well, which are more immediate and much more out of control than SARs 2 even.

  4. Farhad B Hashemi Sep 12, 2020

    I find this program very informative and enjoyable.

  5. patti Sep 25, 2020

    38:35 … Obese and diabetic are “rare” individuals in the U.S.? Pls clarify