Convalescent Plasma Could Help in the Fight Against COVID-19
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Clinicians and researchers are exploring convalescent plasma as a therapy for COVID-19 patients. Convalescent plasma therapy transfuses antibody-rich blood from a COVID-19 patient who has recovered into a patient still struggling with the disease. If successful, the donor’s antibodies will boost the recipient’s immune response to COVID-19, alleviating symptoms and speeding the road to recovery. ARK believes that convalescent plasma therapy is promising but will require clinical validation and quality control before being approved as a treatment.
In emergencies, clinicians have used convalescent plasma to treat previous viral outbreaks like SARS, albeit in the absence of large, randomized clinical trials (RCTs). In our view, COVID-19 is an opportunity to conduct large RCTs, quantifying the antibody load in donated plasma and arming clinicians with the information to give the right recipient the right dose at the right time.
Because COVID-19 patients are immune-compromised, clinicians need to inactivate pathogens in convalescent plasma to prevent infections. This week, Cerus (CERS) announced the formation of a research group developing a convalescent plasma therapy protocol, including its INTERCEPT platform for pathogen inactivation.
With pathogen inactivation and the optimal antibody dose, ARK believes that convalescent plasma therapy could be a powerful treatment in the fight against COVID-19.
Real Estate Transactions Could Go Virtual
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This week Redfin, a next generation real estate platform, said that the number of customers requesting physical home tours has dropped 27% year over year while the number of homes for sale has dropped 18%. Zillow reported that in markets classified as “shelter in place”, Premier Agents are reporting a 5% setback in revenues during the past few weeks.
In our view, the coronavirus will accelerate the real estate industry’s shift towards digital. Redfin.com reported, for example, that it now is showing nearly 1 in 3 homes remotely while Zillow has reported a surge in 3D tours.
Zillow also is offering real estate agents a free app to create 3D virtual tours, the only requirement being an iPhone 7 or higher. Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) should improve virtual tours with more realistic shadows, colors and densities. Realistic 3D tours could replace physical tours and, at the same time, increase virtual traffic on phones or computers anywhere and anytime.
According to ARK’s research, the time to close real estate transactions ranges from 60 to 140 days. Ultimately, virtual tours should increase the liquidity, transparency, and efficiency of residential real estate transactions.
Cash App’s Viral Growth Could Help During the Coronavirus Crisis
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According to our research, Square’s Cash App is gaining share from PayPal’s Venmo, as shown in this animation. As illustrated previously, Cash App’s most rapid adoption in the US has been in the south where unbanked rates are the highest. Cash App not only accommodates peer-to-peer transactions but also provides users with free and easy-to-use banking/saving accounts and debit cards.
With access to the 8.4 million unbanked households in the US, Cash App could become an important financial conduit during the COVID-19 crisis. According to the US Government, the ~$3400 in direct bank deposit stimulus payments per family won’t reach households for three weeks while, for those not registered with the IRS, paper checks will take at least four months. After President Obama signed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, recipients didn’t receive checks for six months. Moreover, the check-based stimulus will boost revenues by roughly $1 billion for check-cashing companies that charge 5% per check.1
With unique access to data about the unbanked community, including KYC/AML (know your customer/anti-money laundering) and social security numbers, Cash App could distribute stimulus funds in days instead of months. In Jack Dorsey’s words: let innovative companies help the government during this crisis.
1 8.4 million households * 2 average adults per households (serves as average for this calculation as children receive less than $1200) * $1200 * 5%