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Texas Drs. Bottazzi & Hotez!

David R. Kotok
Sun Mar 6, 2022

Virologist Katelyn Jetelina published on February 4th an excellent discussion of two new Covid vaccines — Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373), developed by Novavax, Inc., and Corbevax, developed by Drs. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Peter Hotez of the Texas Children’s Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine,. Both rely on trusted vaccine technologies that have been around for decades. She calls them “game changers,” and for good reason. Please see “Two underdog but game changing vaccines: NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax) and CORBEVAX,” https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/two-underdog-but-game-changing-vaccines.

 

Cumberland-Advisors-Market-Commentary-Sunday-Texas Drs. Bottazzi & Hotez!-by-David-R.-Kotok

 

Novavax’s Nuvaxovid was approved in Canada for use in adults on February 17, 2022, and is, perhaps, soon in the US (“Canada approves Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for adults,” https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/canada-approves-novavaxs-covid-19-vaccine-2022-02-17/).

The Corbevax vaccine, in particular, qualifies as a game changer because its process is a gift to humanity, not protected by patent, and its production can be scaled up anywhere in the world. The cost? About $2 per dose. Corbevax has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch in India with other underserved countries to follow (“Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine COVID-19 Vaccine Technology Secures Emergency Use Authorization in India,” https://www.texaschildrens.org/texas-children%E2%80%99s-hospital-and-baylor-college-medicine-covid-19-vaccine-technology-secures-emergency).

The AMA recently honored Dr. Hotez for his science communication and his work on the Corbevax vaccine with its Scientific Achievement Award (“Vaccine champion Dr. Peter Hotez lands one of AMA’s highest honors,” https://www.ama-assn.org/about/awards/vaccine-champion-dr-peter-hotez-lands-one-ama-s-highest-honors). Readers who would like to take a deeper dive into the story behind Corbevax and its potential reach will enjoy the excellent AMA video interview wih Dr. Peter Hotez that accompanies this article. It's well worth the time. 

Drs. Bottazzi and Hotez have also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In her letter of nomination, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) wrote, “As people around the world confront the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effort to develop and distribute a low-cost vaccine to all people in all nations without patent limitation represents the work for fraternity between nations and people that the Nobel Peace Prize embodies and celebrates. Dr. Hotez and Dr. Bottazzi’s effort to develop the CORBEVAX vaccine is truly one of international cooperation and partnership to bring health, security, and peace around the world by creating a COVID-19 vaccine and making it available and accessible to all. It is a contribution that is of the greatest benefit to humankind.” (https://fletcher.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3657) We consider the nomination to be well-deserved.

Dr. Hotez, who once served as US Science Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa, is the author of Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-science, published in March of 2021 (https://www.amazon.com/Preventing-Next-Pandemic-Diplomacy-Anti-science/dp/1421440385/).

As the book description at Amazon explains, Hotez “explores why, since 2015, we’ve seen the decline of global cooperation and cohesion, to the detriment of those programs that are meant to benefit the most vulnerable people in the world. Unfortunately, Hotez asserts, these negative global events kick off a never-ending loop. Problems in a country may lead to disease outbreaks, but those outbreaks can lead to further problems ― such as the impact of coronavirus on China’s society and economy, which has been felt around the globe. Zeroing in on the sociopolitical and environmental factors that drive our most controversial and pressing global health concerns, Hotez proposes historically proven methods to soothe fraught international relations while preparing us for a safer, healthier future. He hammers home the importance of public engagement to communicate the urgency of embracing science during troubled times.”

We are publishing this information on Nuvaxovid and Corbevax and their potential as a public service for all readers, including those who are subjected to misinformation and outright lies by sources that seek personal profit at the expense of the uninformed. The only way to counter the unscrupulous or misinformed is to present curated sources so that people of good will may evaluate elements for themselves.  
 
We hope the two doctors are awarded the Nobel prize: the eyes of Texas who reside in Austin may just decide to take notice. 

David R. Kotok
Chairman & Chief Investment Officer
Email | Bio


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