I've been taking zicam on and off for a few weeks now, and it almost always makes me sneeze...lol. Same for my wife and both my kids, so I'd have to think it's a fairly universal response.
Good point on the package instructions. Actually, when you really think about it, a simple saline solution might be more effective since there would be an immediate osmosis effect as sinus mucus leeched water and sucked in the solution.
I think we all know why geltech chose a "gel". The theory must of been to approximate human mucus and "stay" in the nose longer. But I honestly think the real reason was so they could be proprietary and actually get a patent. You could never patent a saline/zinc solution.
It's interesting that Hank and Dan actually agree in some ways that the AFIC affair was a planned event. Granted their reasoning is different, but both think it was deliberate. I guess my reaction was a sense of stockholder betrayal - yes it let them get some free publicity for some short term gain - but in my mind it destroyed their credibility. That they would choose quick marketing over true science is remarkable IF they actually believed they had such a breakthru product.
I still think they blew it, and they blew it with brokers and the medical community, and this new independent study by some unknown homeopathic doctor won't even be taken seriously. This is what irks me. Here you have a tiny non-biotech company trying to gain some recognition for a possible medical breakthru. But there are obstacles to credibility. For one, the company makes gum products and is classified as a "food processing" company - not a company looking for cures to anything. Second, it's "yet-another-zinc-thing" - that is exactly how the press and wallstreet see it. Miraculously, your research is good enough to find its way into an extremely prestigous medical journal. Finally, the kind of recognition that money cannot buy! The world is truly your oyster, the money and brokers will come in, perhaps even a major pharma collaberation, major news recognition. But someone at the company decides it would be better to increase sales for this quarter than to look at the longterm. This is why there is no broker coverage. Instead of a major breakthru, we have another "zinc fad". Instead of real science, we have quick-buck marketing. Instead of respect from the scientific community, we have disdain. What little credibility we had is now forever lost - just another zinc-snake-oil company. I think it is all open to question now. The AJIC decision, the Dr. Hurt choice, the study itself. These guys want to move those little boxes, and for that they need just a hint of "maybe this works" along with some advertising. To hell with proving anything.
But to me...they blew it. They coulda been real contenders...
Okay, enough of this. I'm back to trading my real biotechs where my fates are decided by the FDA...LOL. Every biotech believes their product works, and every one has scientific data to back it up. Remember that only perhaps one 1 in 5 actual drugs make it to market.
Adios...good luck..
SM
(PS - since SI keeps msgs practically forever, I want it on the record that after running my own field tests, I firmly believe that no scientifically scrutinized study of zicam will ever substantiate or duplicate the 87% reduction in cold duration and severity. That effectiveness rate is so high that even casual field testing should demonstrate immediate effectiveness. I got 10 people using it over at least 3 separate viruses and I can't correlate any actual effectiveness at all compared to my controls, who seem to get over these colds just as quickly without zicam, as well as people using zicam with colds lasting over 5 days) |
