Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : GUMM - Eliminate the Common Cold -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric Fader who wrote (187)	2/4/1999 1:12:00 PM
From: Bengalus	Respond to of 5582

Eric, Cold-Eeze does cause minor nausea in some people, but this is not a problem for most people who follow the directions and don't take it on an empty stomach. Zicam may promise to do better, but those promises are exactly what I'm questioning since there's so far no published clinical evidence to substantiate them. It's worth noting, though, that Gel Tech's press release says colds average 10 to 14 days. The cold literature actually puts the average at a lower figure, in the 8 to 10 day range. The zinc in Cold-Eeze also physically blocks the rhinovirus from attaching to the ICAM-1 receptor. Zicam's supposed method of action is, from what I can tell, identical to that of Cold-Eeze. Cold-Eeze also delivers zinc ions "right to the point of entry of the virus." From "How Does Zinc Modify the Common Cold," S.G. Novick et al, Medical Hypothesis (1996) 46: 295-302. "The large concentration of Zn 2+ in the saliva provides a very large osmotic gradient of 250 torr, favoring the movement of Zn2+ across the semi-permeable mucous membranes of the mouth into the blood and lymph vessels in the immediate vicinity of the mouth." "Comparison of the relative concentration of zinc ions and HRV (human rhinovirus) reveals a 10 x12 excess of Zn 2+ over HRV particles after consideration of the dilution effects inherent in the movement of Zn 2+ from saliva to the upper respiratory tract. The loss of zinc through transport out by local circulation is insignificant, as Zn 2+ is being rapidly replaced by osmotic transport from the mouth. The great excess of zinc ions would ensure that Zn 2+ would bind to HRV at all possible places and thus block HRV from adhering to ICAM-1 and infecting somatic cells." In other words, there appears to be good reason for thinking that Cold-Eeze delivers enough zinc ions to the right place. Also worth noting, zinc ions are believed to work as a competitive inhibitor of ICAM-1, but ICAM-1 is a receptor only for 90% of rhinoviruses, which as a group account for about 50% of common colds. In other words, at best, any ionic zinc formulation would appear to work for only 45% of colds. That's great, but it leaves plenty of room for people using Cold-Eeze or Zicam to come away with unsatisfying experiences. Finally, Eric, your talk of Geron/Entremed type coverage just confirms for me the speculative nature of your interest in GUMM.