Oligonucleotides and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Perspective
Authors: Daniel Rossi
John J Rossi
Journal: Nucleic acid therapeutics (2020)
Discipline: BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Keywords: chemistry optimization; coronavirus; virus–host interactions.
Affiliations: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA., iSTAT Therapeutics, Monrovia, California, USA.

Abstract:  The present global health emergency involving the emergence and rapid spread of a novel coronavirus has prompted the world scientific community to consider how it can help to fight this growing viral pandemic. With few safe and effective drugs available to combat this threat to humanity and the normal functioning of our society, the oligonucleotide research community is uniquely positioned to apply its technology and expertise to help alleviate the crisis, thanks to its capacity for rational drug design, swift development cycles, and pursuing targets undruggable by conventional treatment strategies. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 In this paper, Rossi and Rossi describe several oligonucleotide-based approaches as options to combat SARS-CoV-2, such as siRNA, antisense oligos, or aptamers. Although the paper describes several other studies done on SARS-CoV-2, there are no references to that work. The paper only has 2 citations, which belong to the papers from which they have copied the illustrations from (with permission). None of the other work that is mentioned in this paper is listed in the citations. For example, the authors mention drug research studies, genomic sequencing of the virus, phylogeny of the virus, how the virus binds to host cells, etc. All that work was done by other groups, and it is custom and professional in scientific papers to credit the work by others by listing those papers in the citations. Why did the authors not credit the work by so many others? , 
 Secondly, there appears to be some missing conflicts of interest. There is an  Author Disclosure Statement , which mentions that DR is the interim president of iSTAT Therapeutics. The other author, JJR, lists an affiliation with the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, in Duarte, CA. According to Wikipedia, this is a private non-profit: https: en.wikipedia.org wiki City_of_Hope_National_Medical_Center ![file] What appears to be missing from the Author Disclosure Statement is that one of the authors, JJR, is the (co-)founder of several companies in the field of small oligonucleotides. He is the co-founder of Dicerna Inc and Calando Pharmaceutical, both companies that use oligonucleotide molecules (e.g. RNAi) as therapeutics. In addition, Dr. JJ Rossi is listed as the co-founder of MiNA Therapeutics. He also holds several granted patents and patent applications that appear to involve small RNA-based oligonucleotides, including a patent on Dicer Substrate siRNA. * https: www.oligotherapeutics.org john-rossi-ph-d * https: minatx.com about the-team * https: patents.justia.com inventor john-j-rossi These are all great accomplishments, but it is a bit unfortunate that none of these potential conflicts of interest made it to the Author Disclosure Statement. Could the authors please comment? It seems likely that not only DR, as disclosed, but also JJR might financially benefit from this paper. , 
 Also, as visible from the screenshot in #2, the paper was received, peer reviewed, revised, and accepted within 3 days. It was submitted on Friday April 3, and accepted on Tuesday April 7, suggesting that most of this editorial and review work was done in the weekend. Could the authors please give some insights in the peer review process? One would have hoped that e.g. the lack of citations and potential conflicts of interests would have been noticed by e.g. an editor or peer reviewer. ,