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Robert Wallace Malone is an American virologist and immunologist. His work has focused on mRNA technology, pharmaceuticals, and drug repurposing research. During the .

Early life and education

Robert Malone graduated from the University of California, Davis, and received his MD from Northwestern University.

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. 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. 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, and was ultimately the result of the contributions of hundreds of researchers, of whom Malone was but one.

Malone has served as director of clinical affairs for Avancer Group, 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. He was CEO and co-founder of Atheric Pharmaceutical, 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. Until 2020, Malone was chief medical officer at Alchem Laboratories, a Florida pharmaceutical company.

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. After encouraging preliminary results, Alchem Laboratories, in conjunction with New York's Northwell Health, initiated a clinical trial on famotidine and hydroxychloroquine. Malone resigned from Alchem shortly after the trial began and Northwell paused the trial due to a shortage of hospitalized patients.

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; using interviews on mass media to popularize self-medication with ivermectin; and tweeting a study by others questioning vaccine safety that was later retracted. He said LinkedIn suspended his account over what he claimed were posts he had made questioning the efficacy of some COVID-19 vaccines. Malone has also claimed that the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could worsen COVID-19 infections.

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. 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." Malone and most other guest editors resigned in protest in April 2021, and the special issue has been pulled from the journal's website.

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.

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.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
• 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.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
• 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

1. ^ Bartlett, Tom (August 12, 2021). "The Vaccine Scientist Spreading Vaccine Misinformation". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
2. ^ Jacob, Manon (July 13, 2021). "Flawed study misrepresents Covid-19 vaccination fatality rate". Agence France Presse. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
3. "Flawed scientific papers fueling Covid-19 misinformation". France 24. July 30, 2021.
4. ^ "Fact Check-COVID-19 vaccines are not 'cytotoxic'". Reuters. June 18, 2021. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
5. "License Number: D55466 Dr. Robert Wallace Malone". Physician Profile Portal. Maryland Board of Physicians. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
6. ^ Nogueira, Mariana (July 20, 2021). "Robert Malone é o inventor das vacinas de mRNA?". Visão (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 29, 2021.
7. Monroe, Linda (March 23, 1990). "Biotech Firm Takes the Simple Route to Gene Therapy Success". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
8. "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.
9. "From COVID to Malaria: The potential of mRNA vaccines". Deutsche Welle. July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
10. ^ Kertscher, Tom (June 16, 2021). "The COVID-19 vaccines' "spike protein is very dangerous, it's cytotoxic."". Politifact. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
11. "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.
12. Perlman, William (March 8, 2016). "Zika Countermeasure Options Explored". Contagion. MJH Life Sciences. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021.
13. "The Team". www.atheric.com. Atheric Pharmaceutical LLC. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017.
14. Mandell, Josh (December 11, 2016). "The War on Zika". The Daily Progress.
15. Chang, Ailsa (May 12, 2016). "White House Request For Emergency Zika Funding Hits Roadblock In Congress". WBUR-FM. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
16. Szabo, Liz (May 5, 2016). "Researchers look to repurpose approved drugs to treat Zika virus". USA Today. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
17. 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.
18. ^ Lardner, Richard (July 23, 2020). "Pepcid as a virus remedy? Trump admin's $21M gamble fizzled". Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
19. ^ Borrell, Brendan (April 26, 2020). "New York clinical trial quietly tests heartburn remedy against coronavirus". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abc4739. S2CID 219040361.
20. "Feinstein Institutes responds to inaccuracies in Associated Press reports". feinstein.northwell.edu. Northwell Health. July 31, 2020.
21. ^ Offord, Catherine (April 28, 2021). "Frontiers Pulls Special COVID-19 Issue After Content Dispute". The Scientist. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
22. "【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 (Hong Kong)). August 28, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. "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

• Official website

• 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