COVID-19 Records

Transcript segment

Baric Transcribed Interview (Redacted), p.20 · baric_ti:utt:00101

Page text: p.20 · original PDF

Date
2026-04-10 09:00 (day precision)
Type
transcript segment · interview
recipient
Christina Salazar, Harry Kazenoff, David T. Lambeth III, William Henderson, Clark Ervin, Jake Greenberg
speaker
Ralph S. Baric
Topics
Therapeutics and treatments
So the paper did a comparison of the effectiveness of remdisivir against two HIV drugs, lopinavir and another drug, which I'm blanking on. There had been several reports by Chinese researchers that the second drug was effective in treating SARS coronavirus. Personally, again, I'd have to reread the papers. I haven't read them in years. But my recollection is that the papers compared the treatment of this HIV therapy to historic controls. And so they didn't have as many males in the study, in the two comparisons. Males have more severe disease, so it looked like this HIV therapy was effective. It was ritonavir, the other drug. And so the Chinese were planning on using massive treatment regiments in their population, using this HIV therapy, and the paper clearly shows that that therapy doesn't work.

In context

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  1. 2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open
    I don't recall this, but he may have been wanting a copy of the paper that I just mentioned. I may have sent it to them. I don't see why I wouldn't. The big question would be whether Gilead would have a problem, not that I would have a problem with it.
  2. 2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open
    So what's the confidentiality agreement when you're --
  3. 2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open
    So when the journal tells you the paper is in press, they say you're not allowed to report it until it's published. So to send the paper around to other individuals in the final form could be breaking that confidentiality agreement.
  4. 2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open
    And so what information did you have from the paper? DC.Scheduling@LexitasLegal.com
  5. 2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric
    So the paper did a comparison of the effectiveness of remdisivir against two HIV drugs, lopinavir and another drug, which I'm blanking on. There had been several reports by Chinese researchers that the second drug was effective in treating SARS coronavirus. Personally, again, I'd have to reread the papers. I haven't read them in years. But my recollection is that the papers compared the treatment of this HIV therapy to historic controls. And so they didn't have as many males in the study, in the two comparisons. Males have more severe disease, so it looked like this HIV therapy was effective. It was ritonavir, the other drug. And so the Chinese were planning on using massive treatment regiments in their population, using this HIV therapy, and the paper clearly shows that that therapy doesn't work.
  6. 2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open
    They were going to use it on what?
  7. 2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open
    Humans.
  8. 2026-04-10 09:00 Christina Salazar open
    But for all coronaviruses? For flu?
  9. 2026-04-10 09:00 Ralph S. Baric open
    Their cases of SAR-2, of COVID-19, in January of 2020.

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