Robert W. Malone
Robert Wallace Malone | |
---|---|
Citizenship | United States |
Education | MD, Northwestern University B.S., University of California, Davis |
Occupation | Virologist |
Website | rwmalonemd |
Robert Wallace Malone is an American virologist and immunologist. His work has focused on mRNA technology, pharmaceuticals, and drug repurposing research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been criticized for promoting misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.[1][2][3][4]
Early life and education[]
Robert Malone graduated from the University of California, Davis, and received his MD from Northwestern University.[5]
Career[]
In the 1980s, while a researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Malone conducted studies on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, discovering that it was possible to transfer mRNA protected by a liposome into cultured cells to signal the information needed for the production of proteins.[6][2]
In 1987, Malone performed a landmark experiment on transfection of RNA into human, rat, mouse, Xenopus, and Drosophila cells.[7][8]
In the early 1990s, he collaborated with Jon A. Wolff, Dennis A. Carson, and others on a study that first suggested the possibility of synthesizing mRNA in a laboratory to trigger the production of a desired protein.[9] Malone claims to be the inventor of mRNA vaccines, although credit for the distinction is more often given to later advancements by Katalin Karikó or Derrick Rossi,[10][6][11][12] and was ultimately the result of the contributions of hundreds of researchers, of whom Malone was but one.[13]
Malone has served as director of clinical affairs for , a member of the scientific advisory board of EpiVax, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore school of medicine, and an adjunct associate professor of biotechnology at Kennesaw State University.[14] He was CEO and co-founder of Atheric Pharmaceutical,[15] which in 2016 was contracted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to assist in the development of a treatment for the Zika virus by evaluating the efficacy of existing drugs.[16][17][18][19] Until 2020, Malone was chief medical officer at Alchem Laboratories, a Florida pharmaceutical company.[20]
COVID-19[]
In early 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Malone was involved in research into the heartburn medicine famotidine (Pepcid) as a potential COVID-19 treatment following anecdotal evidence suggesting that it may have been associated with higher COVID-19 survival. Malone, then with Alchem Laboratories, suspected famotidine may target an enzyme that the virus (SARS-CoV-2) uses to reproduce, and recruited a computational chemist to help design a 3D-model of the enzyme based on the viral sequence and comparisons to the 2003 SARS virus.[21][22] After encouraging preliminary results, Alchem Laboratories, in conjunction with New York's Northwell Health, initiated a clinical trial on famotidine and hydroxychloroquine.[21] Malone resigned from Alchem shortly after the trial began and Northwell paused the trial due to a shortage of hospitalized patients.[20][23]
Malone received criticism for propagating COVID-19 misinformation, including making unsupported claims about the alleged toxicity of spike proteins generated by some COVID-19 vaccines;[2][12][4][24] using interviews on mass media to popularize self-medication with ivermectin;[25] and tweeting a study by others questioning vaccine safety that was later retracted.[2] He said LinkedIn suspended his account over what he claimed were posts he had made questioning the efficacy of some COVID-19 vaccines.[26] Malone has also claimed that the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could worsen COVID-19 infections.[1]
With another researcher, Malone successfully proposed to the publishers of Frontiers in Pharmacology a special issue featuring early observational studies on existing medication used in the treatment of COVID-19, for which they recruited other guest editors, contributors, and reviewers. The journal rejected two of the papers selected: one on famotidine co-authored by Malone and another submitted by physician Pierre Kory on the use of ivermectin.[23] The publisher rejected the ivermectin paper due to what it stated were "a series of strong, unsupported claims" which they determined did "not offer an objective nor balanced scientific contribution."[23] Malone and most other guest editors resigned in protest in April 2021, and the special issue has been pulled from the journal's website.[23]
Malone has also been criticized for falsely claiming that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had not granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine in August 2021.[27]
Selected publications[]
- Malone, Robert; et al. (2021). "COVID-19: Famotidine, Histamine, Mast Cells, and Mechanisms". Frontiers in Pharmacology. 12 (216): 633680. doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.633680. PMC 8021898. PMID 33833683.
- Malone, Robert; et al. (2016). "Zika Fetal Neuropathogenesis: Etiology of a Viral Syndrome". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 10 (8): e0004530. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004530. PMC 4774925. PMID 26934531.
- Malone, Robert; et al. (2016). "Zika Virus: Medical Countermeasure Development Challenges". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 10 (3): e0004877. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004877. PMC 4999274. PMID 27560129.
- Somiari, Stella; Drabick, Joseph; Malone, Robert; Gillbert, Richard; et al. (2000). "Theory and in Vivo Application of Electroporative Gene Delivery". Molecular Therapy. 2 (3): 178–187. doi:10.1006/mthe.2000.0124. PMID 10985947.
- Bennett, Michael; Aberle, Alfred; Nantz, Michael; Malone, Robert; et al. (1997). "Cationic Lipid-Mediated Gene Delivery to Murine Lung: Correlation of Lipid Hydration with in Vivo Transfection Activity". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 40 (25): 4069–4078. doi:10.1021/jm970155q. PMID 9406597.
- Malone, Robert; Montbriand, Phillip M. (1996). "Improved Method for the Removal of Endotoxin from DNA". Journal of Biotechnology. 44 (1).
- Nantz, Micahel; Gruenert, Dieter; Malone, Robert; et al. (1995). "Cholesterol Enhances Cationic Liposome-mediated DNA Transfection of Human Respiratory Epithelial Cells". Bioscience Reports. 15 (1): 47–53. doi:10.1007/BF01200214. PMID 7647291. S2CID 6610853.
- Hickman, M. Anne; Lehmann-Bruinsma, Karin; Malone, Robert; et al. (1994). "Gene Expression Following Direct Injection of DNA into Liver". Human Gene Therapy. 5 (12): 1477–1483. doi:10.1089/hum.1994.5.12-1477. PMID 7711140.
- Wolff, Jon A.; Williams, Phillip; Malone, Robert; et al. (1990). "Direct Gene Transfer into Mouse Muscle in Vivo". Science. 247 (4949): 1465–1468. Bibcode:1990Sci...247.1465W. doi:10.1126/science.1690918. PMID 1690918.
- Malone, Robert; Verma, I.M.; et al. (1989). "Cationic Liposome-mediated RNA Transfection". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 86 (16): 6077–6081. Bibcode:1989PNAS...86.6077M. doi:10.1073/pnas.86.16.6077. PMC 297778. PMID 2762315.
References[]
- ^ a b Bartlett, Tom (August 12, 2021). "The Vaccine Scientist Spreading Vaccine Misinformation". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Jacob, Manon (July 13, 2021). "Flawed study misrepresents Covid-19 vaccination fatality rate". Agence France Presse. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "Flawed scientific papers fueling Covid-19 misinformation". France 24. July 30, 2021.
- ^ a b "Fact Check-COVID-19 vaccines are not 'cytotoxic'". Reuters. June 18, 2021. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "License Number: D55466 Dr. Robert Wallace Malone". Physician Profile Portal. Maryland Board of Physicians. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ a b Nogueira, Mariana (July 20, 2021). "Robert Malone é o inventor das vacinas de mRNA?". Visão (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "The tangled history of mRNA vaccines". Nature. September 14, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
- ^ Malone, Robert; Verma, I.M.; et al. (1989). "Cationic Liposome-mediated RNA Transfection". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 86 (16): 6077–6081. Bibcode:1989PNAS...86.6077M. doi:10.1073/pnas.86.16.6077. PMC 297778. PMID 2762315.
- ^ Monroe, Linda (March 23, 1990). "Biotech Firm Takes the Simple Route to Gene Therapy Success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
- ^ "About Us". rwmalonemd.com. Robert W. Malone. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
Dr. Malone is the discoverer of in-vitro and in-vivo RNA transfection and the inventor of mRNA vaccines, while he was at the Salk Institute in 1988.
- ^ "From COVID to Malaria: The potential of mRNA vaccines". Deutsche Welle. July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ a b Kertscher, Tom (June 16, 2021). "The COVID-19 vaccines' "spike protein is very dangerous, it's cytotoxic."". Politifact. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "The development of mRNA vaccines was a collaborative effort; Robert Malone contributed to their development, but he is not their inventor". Health Feedback. August 26, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
- ^ Perlman, William (March 8, 2016). "Zika Countermeasure Options Explored". Contagion. MJH Life Sciences. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021.
- ^ "The Team". www.atheric.com. Atheric Pharmaceutical LLC. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017.
- ^ Mandell, Josh (December 11, 2016). "The War on Zika". The Daily Progress.
- ^ Chang, Ailsa (May 12, 2016). "White House Request For Emergency Zika Funding Hits Roadblock In Congress". WBUR-FM. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ Szabo, Liz (May 5, 2016). "Researchers look to repurpose approved drugs to treat Zika virus". USA Today. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ Anwar, Sarah (March 3, 2017). "Repurposing Licensed Drugs for Use Against the Zika Virus". Contagion. MJH Life Sciences. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Lardner, Richard (July 23, 2020). "Pepcid as a virus remedy? Trump admin's $21M gamble fizzled". Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ a b Borrell, Brendan (April 26, 2020). "New York clinical trial quietly tests heartburn remedy against coronavirus". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abc4739. S2CID 219040361.
- ^ "Feinstein Institutes responds to inaccuracies in Associated Press reports". feinstein.northwell.edu. Northwell Health. July 31, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Offord, Catherine (April 28, 2021). "Frontiers Pulls Special COVID-19 Issue After Content Dispute". The Scientist. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "【誤導內容】Robert Malone是mRNA疫苗發明者?|Factcheck Lab". Factcheck Lab 事實查核實驗室 (in Chinese). August 28, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ Karlis, Nicole (August 9, 2021). "How anti-vaxxers weaponized Ivermectin, a horse de-wormer drug, as a COVID-19 treatment". Salon. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ^ D'Angelo, Peter (July 4, 2021). "Usa, uno degli scienziati dell'Rna messaggero denuncia: "Censurato da Linkedin" dopo aver espresso preoccupazione sulla trasparenza del governo rispetto ai potenziali rischi dei vaccini. La polemica con Reuters". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ "Yes, the FDA really HAS given full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine | Science-Based Medicine". sciencebasedmedicine.org. August 30, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
External links[]
- Living people
- Feinberg School of Medicine alumni
- University of California, Davis alumni
- American virologists
- American medical researchers
- 20th-century American physicians
- 21st-century American physicians