Epidemic Financing Facilities: Pandemic Bonds and Endemic Swaps (preprint)

While the COVID-19 pandemic has shattered the world with severe human toll and catastrophic economic losses and sufferings, it has also heightened the need for more effective solutions for managing epidemic-related risks. In this paper, we pro- pose two capital market-based epidemic financing facilities to address two extremes of epidemic risks. The proposed pandemic bond is meant to hedge the severe pandemic outbreak while the proposed endemic swap can be used to hedge a recurrent endemic. Using coronavirus as an example of a pandemic and dengue fever as an example of an endemic, we discuss the modeling and pricing of the proposed epidemic securities. We price the proposed securities based on epidemiological models as well as actuarial models. We show that the proposed hedging securities can provide additional capital relief for pandemic recovery plans, effectively stabilize hedgers’ cash flows, and create attractive returns to different investors.

Nitazoxanide and JIB-04 have broad-spectrum antiviral activity and inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in cell culture and coronavirus pathogenesis in a pig model (preprint)

Pathogenic coronaviruses represent a major threat to global public health. Here, using a recombinant reporter virus-based compound screening approach, we identified several small-molecule inhibitors that potently block the replication of the newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Two compounds, nitazoxanide and JIB-04 inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in Vero E6 cells with an EC50 of 4.90 M and 0.69 M, respectively, with specificity indices of greater than 150. Both inhibitors had in vitro antiviral activity in multiple cell types against some DNA and RNA viruses, including porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus. In an in vivo porcine model of coronavirus infection, administration of JIB-04 reduced virus infection and associated tissue pathology, which resulted in improved body weight gain and survival. These results highlight the potential utility of nitazoxanide and JIB-04 as antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2 and other viral pathogens.