Novak Djokovic and wife at centre of Covid 'cure' controversy

A number of leading scientists have pointed out some major 'red flags' with a biotech company aiming to develop a treatment for Covid-19 that Novak Djokovic and his wife own an 80 per cent stake in.

Earlier this week it emerged that Djokovic had owns a majority stake in Danish firm QuantBioRes, which is seeking to create a treatment for Covid rather than a vaccine.

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It is an open secret that Djokovic is firmly against vaccinations and was deported from Australia last week because he is unvaccinated against Covid-19.

QuantBioRes is developing a peptide, which inhibits the coronavirus from infecting the human cell.

The company expects to launch clinical trials in the UK this year, according to CEO Ivan Loncarevic.

Loncarevic, who describes himself as an entrepreneur, said Djokovic's acquisition of the 80 per cent stake was made in June of 2020 but declined to say how much it was.

And while the news raised eyebrows earlier this week, the story took a big twist on Friday.

Darren Saunders, an associate professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales, took to Twitter to point out a number of problems with QuantBioRes.

“Oh dear. I’ve had a quick look at this company. Biotech’ might be a stretch,” Saunders tweeted.

"The inclusion of 'Quant' (ie quantum) in the name is a massive red flag.

"The second red flag is the liberal sprinkling of words like ‘resonant’ and ‘frequencies’ through the word salad on that site.

“Let’s just park the false statement that coronaviruses are retroviruses for now. So, if you haven’t figured it out yet, Novak’s ‘biotech company’ is working on homeopathy as a cure for Covid."

Dr Saunders pointed out a number of issues in the site's 'discover more' section.

"Here are a few choice quotes," he continued.

“‘During this rapid research effort, we will identify the common component of proteins responsible for initial infection for all related RNA viruses and then design a vaccine based on this component and thus create the cure’.

"Guys, this isn't how biochemistry works."

Scientists call out Novak Djokovic's Covid 'cure' company

And Saunders isn't alone in calling out problems with the company.

Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician at the Australian National University, told The Guardian the company have: "Given nothing in the way of data.

“People are looking out for new molecules all the time, but the website describes a way of finding a new molecule without providing any evidence of success.”

Thomas Lumley, a professor of Biostatistics at the University of Auckland, also tweeted his concerns.

“If you got to the firm’s website and click on ‘Discover More’ under ‘Our Innovative Technology’, you find a document titled ‘Rapid development of treatment for retro-viruses incl. COVID-19’," he said.

"This isn’t just phrasing, it later says ‘Coronaviruses are retroviruses’. They aren’t."

However Loncarevic hit back at claims that his company is simply achieving “homeopathy”.

“What we do has absolutely nothing to do with homeopathy,” he told The Guardian.

“The theory behind homeopathy is that you can transfer information from a chemical to another substance, such as water.

"What we do is to develop peptides with specific functionality. This is pure, classical science.”

with agencies

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