The trials to test John McMichael’s COVID cure are going slowly––too slowly for the Wright scientist’s liking.
Mr. McMichael’s product, TML, has been found to successfully treat COVID, but the federal Food and Drug Administration must approve it.
A trial started in Salt Lake City three weeks ago was the start of that process. A lab there needed 40 patients––plus an additional 10 if some drop out––for the trial.
But not enough patients have signed up.
“It’s slower than we thought, and a lot slower than I wanted,” Mr. McMichael said Monday.
He’s planning to open a second trial site in Puerto Rico, where “there’s a real flare-up and there should be a lot of patients.”
The Salt Lake City site will remain open––and aided by a new social media campaign––and Mr. McMichael’s considering a New Orleans site, too.
He’s unsure why so few patients have opted for the trial, but a friend had a suggestion:
“He said the media’s done such a good job convincing people that there will be no progress until there’s a vaccine next year, people think anything else is bogus,” Mr. McMichael said.
“It makes about as much sense as anything else.”
TML, however, is cure or remedy for people who already have COVID; a vaccine prevents them from getting the virus.
“That’s true,” Mr. McMichael said, “but I’m not sure people can tell the difference.”
The trial has 20 patients take TML and 20 take a placebo. If the test is successful, there will be a pivotal trial with 200 to 250 patients.
If TML passes the pivotal trial, Mr. McMichael will work with a large pharmaceutical company to produce TML for the public.
Although the patients who have signed up are already in the trial process, there won’t be any results until the entire test is done.
“I’m really disappointed it’s going so slowly,” Mr. McMichael said. “I just want to get the darn thing done.”
Mr. McMichael developed TML about 20 years ago as a successful treatment for herpes and influenza viruses. When the pandemic started in March, doctors in Mr. McMichael’s nationwide Beech Tree Labs found TML was also successful in treating COVID.