The Nonlinear Library EA - Complementary notes on Alvea [unofficial] by mxschons
Nov 2, 2023
09:06
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Complementary notes on Alvea [unofficial], published by mxschons on November 2, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
My ex-colleagues just posted the
official Alvea winddown announcement
as well as
Kyle's reflections on our activities
over the past 1.5 years. I wanted to complement these posts with some additional comments.
Publication of the South Africa Trial Results
Our academic publication of the South Africa Trial results are currently under review, but you can
see the submitted manuscript here
. We also published the
complete data-set as well as the full study report
. While Kyle describes our efficacy results correctly as underwhelming (btw - the Janssen comparator as well), the trial made several important scientific contributions. To our knowledge this study is the first time where
A naked DNA based SARS-CoV-2 booster candidate was studied in preimmunized humans (with ~80% having hybrid immunity from previous infections).
Unusually high doses of up to 8 mg DNA plasmid were administered intradermally / subcutaneously during a single visit.
A SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate was compared during its first Phase-1 safety study against a licensed comparator (Janssen's Ad26.COV2.S). (Sidenote: it is insane that this seems to be the only COVID-19 trial that managed to get an comparator)
Lessons learned
In addition to Kyle's list, here are some more I'd like to point out:
Experience matters:
Alvea matured substantially over time. From my perspective, many important internal operations mistakes could have been prevented if there had been more experience in the team earlier on. Same for research decisions and other mistakes we made. Sometimes you really want this person who has 4,000+ h of work experience and not 40h of research experience. Maybe even often.
You can hire people remotely:
It is very common for orgs to be hesitant to hire internationally. I myself would not have been able to work for Alvea if Grigory wouldn't have been creative about contracting and working with Employer of Records to employ ~50% of the 45 person team. I claim that organizations are missing out on top talent if they are only fishing in their country.
We had kick-ass values I am still identifying with
(shoutout to
Eric
for shaping our company culture with those)
Ownership: We take personal responsibility for achieving exceptional results. We draw energy from doing the "impossible."
Agility: We move with speed and flexibility in the face of constant uncertainty.
Truthseeking: We chase the truth, especially when it requires courage. We experiment to change our minds quickly.
Care: We have each other's back. Our mutual support sparks our growth as a team and our impact in the world.
Medical countermeasures matter:
I get the vibes in EA that people are not excited about medical countermeasures / their deployment. I'd like to challenge that. Ambulances, firefighters, and police take less than 15 minutes to arrive at an emergency scene. Starting a clinical trial 100d? Humanity needs an equivalent pharmaceutical preparedness and response ability to stop pandemics in their tracks. For instance, I would like to see work on a 100h response plan (in addition to the 100d CEPI timeline) to an outbreak using candidate vaccines and ultra-rapid ring-vaccination trials. So consider
PanopliaLabs
when allocating your donations this year.
Drug Development Explainer Series
I just
cross posted an explainer series on drug development
from my website I wrote up with
James Smith
and
Kirsten Angeles
. I argue it captures most of the insights on the pharma landscape we made at Alvea and recommend it to everyone who wants to get a comprehensive overview of how drugs are made.
One article in the series describes some of the core cultural and operational activities that allowed Alvea to execute that quickly. For conveni...
My ex-colleagues just posted the
official Alvea winddown announcement
as well as
Kyle's reflections on our activities
over the past 1.5 years. I wanted to complement these posts with some additional comments.
Publication of the South Africa Trial Results
Our academic publication of the South Africa Trial results are currently under review, but you can
see the submitted manuscript here
. We also published the
complete data-set as well as the full study report
. While Kyle describes our efficacy results correctly as underwhelming (btw - the Janssen comparator as well), the trial made several important scientific contributions. To our knowledge this study is the first time where
A naked DNA based SARS-CoV-2 booster candidate was studied in preimmunized humans (with ~80% having hybrid immunity from previous infections).
Unusually high doses of up to 8 mg DNA plasmid were administered intradermally / subcutaneously during a single visit.
A SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate was compared during its first Phase-1 safety study against a licensed comparator (Janssen's Ad26.COV2.S). (Sidenote: it is insane that this seems to be the only COVID-19 trial that managed to get an comparator)
Lessons learned
In addition to Kyle's list, here are some more I'd like to point out:
Experience matters:
Alvea matured substantially over time. From my perspective, many important internal operations mistakes could have been prevented if there had been more experience in the team earlier on. Same for research decisions and other mistakes we made. Sometimes you really want this person who has 4,000+ h of work experience and not 40h of research experience. Maybe even often.
You can hire people remotely:
It is very common for orgs to be hesitant to hire internationally. I myself would not have been able to work for Alvea if Grigory wouldn't have been creative about contracting and working with Employer of Records to employ ~50% of the 45 person team. I claim that organizations are missing out on top talent if they are only fishing in their country.
We had kick-ass values I am still identifying with
(shoutout to
Eric
for shaping our company culture with those)
Ownership: We take personal responsibility for achieving exceptional results. We draw energy from doing the "impossible."
Agility: We move with speed and flexibility in the face of constant uncertainty.
Truthseeking: We chase the truth, especially when it requires courage. We experiment to change our minds quickly.
Care: We have each other's back. Our mutual support sparks our growth as a team and our impact in the world.
Medical countermeasures matter:
I get the vibes in EA that people are not excited about medical countermeasures / their deployment. I'd like to challenge that. Ambulances, firefighters, and police take less than 15 minutes to arrive at an emergency scene. Starting a clinical trial 100d? Humanity needs an equivalent pharmaceutical preparedness and response ability to stop pandemics in their tracks. For instance, I would like to see work on a 100h response plan (in addition to the 100d CEPI timeline) to an outbreak using candidate vaccines and ultra-rapid ring-vaccination trials. So consider
PanopliaLabs
when allocating your donations this year.
Drug Development Explainer Series
I just
cross posted an explainer series on drug development
from my website I wrote up with
James Smith
and
Kirsten Angeles
. I argue it captures most of the insights on the pharma landscape we made at Alvea and recommend it to everyone who wants to get a comprehensive overview of how drugs are made.
One article in the series describes some of the core cultural and operational activities that allowed Alvea to execute that quickly. For conveni...