Sept 2 2020 The Launch Pad. As they gathered in the morning they reflected on the momentous changes coming, feeling deep down that a new world was dawning. Would it be today? Would today be the day? None felt it could be long in coming. They began to watch their incoming emails, checking every several minutes as the time approached 0930. Another market day, and they were confident.
It was fun to read back through the exciting developments over the spring and summer that had carried them forward to this morning. Each person had a favorite PR and some liked June 11 or June 17 or July 20. But all of them could recite almost by heart the July 13 and the August 26 PRs. When the company spelled out mid summer that a trial would start, B v C, later that year. They were moving forward with a trial. Based on everything they knew so far B was highly likely to beat the corona virus in a human trial. And then a week ago- William DeGrado the inventor of brilacidin, signed up with the company to help lead the charge in the antiviral fight.

Icing on the cake. DeGrado on board. That was another key development that led them to the launch pad, so they could witness first hand the ignition and blastoff of brilacidin and InnovPharm.

They could sense the excitement. They knew the PRs were not sent down from heaven and were not sacred texts. At the same time though they knew they were witnessing a miracle.

The Launch Pad. A new reality based InnovPharm series.

September 1: A group of the faithful gathered at the launch pad early that day. They preferred to arrive before 0800 because their company, IP, had a tendency to release PRs early. In fact if nothing was out by 0915, it was not coming out, with few exceptions. They had chosen this date to mark the end of the summer and the beginning of the new era, in corona virus treatment, in medicine generally, in all of virology. And their little company, almost worthless at this point in time, had emerged, improbably, as a player. They had seen over the summer the series of big announcements that the synthetic molecule brilacidin was doing well in the labs against COVID 19. There was almost nothing in the way of data, and it was exasperating- a few numbers, like p values, came from the CEO, and there was nothing else.

No real data, none.

So it was a leap of faith, really, that led them to the launch pad, a fellowship of believers who knew that change was coming, any day now. That was what set them apart from others. Other shareholders wanted some proof or at least more if they were to believe in a miracle. They were not even asking for that much, but they wanted to see more than just some p values. They were reluctant and skeptical. The believers were not bound by such convention and they were all in.

The launch pad group figured on a short wait, based on all the good news they had seen over the summer of 2020. It would not be long now. The world was about to change and they were ground zero.

not my favorite installment either.

But is sure beats reality here- shareholders, actual shareholders, are told NOTHING

Got to admit it's getting better is just the exact right sentiment and we need more and more and more days without any news so it means that the value of B is up and up.

Go B go! No news is not good news, it's great news!

Oh- 1170 deaths USA yest. I guess no news s just what we need

Let's listen in again shall we, as the RBL director meets with the IP man and shareholders just outside the Biocontainment Lab at GMU

"Greetings and welcome to the Lab," said the director. " We are glad to talk directly to taxpayers about our corona virus research. I will say up front my schedule is tight and we have little time but let's talk."

"Well thank you very much director", said the shareholder rep. "We have had trouble getting any clear answers about brilacidin and corona research. First question: We heard there was an RBL grant with IP for B research about corona but other viruses as well, SARS and MERS, and much more."

"Huh? " said the director." You don't know? Initial research was promising but the grant was rejected. They needed more data and we are considering re submission."

"No, actually, we were never told that," said the rep.

"That was months ago already, folks, and I would have guessed you would have heard all about it," said the director.

The IP man was looking carefully at the ground and avoided all other eyes.

"There could still be a grant? And B might really destroy those other viruses like we were led to believe?" asked the rep.

" I cannot say for sure,' said the director. " Many grants do get resubmitted."

"OK well moving right along. The brilacidin testing with the different cell lines and the fibroblasts and all that- what is happening? said the rep.

"Friends we wrapped up that research this summer. We got some helpful data, that's for sure. The human lung cell tests look good. Have you seen the final data?" asked the director.

" No, actually, we have not seen any data, we just got a few numbers, and that is it," said the rep.

"Nothing more? I wonder why." said the director.

"I may know" said the IP man. " As I hinted all along there the several labs at work including a PHRI, whatever and wherever that is. But they all told me that things would be wrapped up and submitted as an article for prepublication in September. But they kept on adding bits and pieces of research- that's what they told me, like the fibroblasts, and..."

"Fibroblasts? Did you say fibroblasts? " said the director." Well there's your problem. Those little devils are so tricky to work with. There is always a contaminant and then slow growth and then a redo and another. That can really drag out."

"This many weeks? It can drag out this long?" said the IP man and the shareholders in unison. They had been waiting so long.

"Let me make a couple of calls. Let's meet back here tomorrow OK?" said the director. "Oh yeah one more thing- I do think the camping on the the campus here - it's a problem."

Why is there still support for an IP liftoff when there is no news? How can a blast off be so near when there is nothing to tell shareholders, no data, no paper, no grant, no nothing? Does someone know more than the rest of us? Why pretend that such good news is just around the corner, after all?

Updates are for losers! Who needs to know anything ? Who needs grant info? Who needs B v C lab data? People keep dying but updates are for losers.

Hoorah, is what I would say. Why pose such a preposterous question? Maybe address the papers(s)? Or the grant? Oh I get it- let's pretend they never existed. What complete joke.

Difficult to keep a straight face or to even bother responding to such a thorough dismantling(LOL)

If we cannot agree that is a problem

-when the grant submission is ignored, as though it never existed

-when the prepublication date is now 3 weeks overdue

then we have a different understanding of what constitutes a problem. Not to mention that these disasters occur as IP wants to get B into the C fight. I suppose the RBL is wholly responsible for all the woes. But that makes no sense- Leo announced the grant submisson and the Sept paper deadline.

Hey- still out on the launch pad? for the last 7 weeks? hang in there-

Funny- it feels the other way around to me, the propaganda, and the losing of minds, belongs to the glass all full camp.

Sorry to say since I hoped LEo was giving us a straight scoop

Hmm. Why no update? Embarrassing at this point-

Oh also- no minds lost here, simple impatience and familiarity of company failure to let shareholders know about big problems in a timely manner. That's all.

Still hoping that things are on track and that good news will arrive very shortly

It is starting to feel that way. he cannot be bothered to inform shareholders? Does not feel like we are riding a winner. I had hoped we might be.

Amusing that so many profess no worries, none. They must not be aware of the sad history of this company and Leo's failure to inform us, as recently documented with P posts.

Data ? Paper(s)? Grant? This is becoming a joke.

Can the company go another day without news? At some point it begins to feel like there is a real problem instead of a real huge bonus surprise. Why no data? Starting to wonder. If we cannot see data how will they persuade the FDA? Weird that they have nothing to say.

You're calling this ...a work of fiction? Are you sure about that?

You do not believe that a rogue group of shareholders is camping out at the GMU RBL campus and meeting with researchers involved with Brilacidin?

That they lost the battle of Wakefield and moved on to Manassas in desperation?

I anticipate more fictional meetings, as early as tomorrow even. When there is no actual news, one has to make do.

We are about to find out. About duping. We were also supposed to find out if we were duped two months ago. And then a month ago. Hmm.

"Les must de DeGrado?" Seriously, folks: The company cannot be bothered to say boo for weeks on end . Now we are to believe that there is exciting new stuff in the works, like a b mask, and maybe- maybe-something from the inventor, call it "Les must de DeGrado".

Either there is an awful lot going on behind the scenes.

Or this is one very sad situation, with some element of deception(trial is on the way, just you wait, data soon, grant submitted...)

and if the B for C inpatient trial fails when will anyone ever do the inhaler and mask studies- I know- the company that picks up B in bankruptcy can do it

Just like we are doing now- funny that

with respect to duh- if I missed the specific mention of a B mask, sorry, not following closely enough.

With respect to the other inhaler yes of course have followed for a while.

my point was that we are told that B did best with preventing entry into cells, and then the trial is based on patients whose cells have all been entered by C

I like any chatter that points B in a direction it may well succeed at, since an inpatient trial may well not succeed

cool idea. Goes along with nasal or lung inhaler for prophylaxis idea.

The problem is that there is no delivery system for the mask, or the inhalers, and company has announced a hospital based IV trial as their goal.

Inhaler or mask interesting-

Early Tuesday a couple of shareholders went to the door of the RBL and asked to see Dr Narayanan.

Dd they have an appointment?
Well , no-

But it turned out that she was willing to meet them for a quick coffee anyway, just about now-
shall we listen in?

Dr N- Good morning. How can I help you? My assistant said you wished to talk about Brilacidin?

IP shareholder reps: It's so nice of you to take a minute to see us. We have been having such difficulty getting information about Brilacidin and a potential RBL grant, and Brilacidin testing done here. We figure this must be the place where it's all happening

Dr N- I am sorry to disappoint you but I know so little about this. I do work on an alpha virus - VEEV we call it, and there was some initial hope that Brilacidin might have some activity against VEEV. I heard that some people might put together a grant and I even wrote a few paragraphs but I haven't heard anymore about it- that was months ago.

IP people: Oh no, really? We hoped you might know more about the grant.

AN, PhD: Sorry I have been so busy in the lab; that's all I know. I wonder who could help.

IP people: But what about the lung cell EC 50 Brilacidin v COVID? And the $35,000- that IP paid for that work. Can you tell us more about that research?

Dr N: Oh I think a grad student did that work a couple months back, if I remember right. That's all I know about it.

IP people: and what about all the other Corona research and our miracle molecule, who is doing that? Where do we ask?

Dr N: I really don't know. But I would be glad to talk to you about biosignaling in VEEV.

IP reps: Um...

Dr N: Try the director then. He might be able to help-

Their initial foray for information had gone badly. But they were used to that. It had been months of nothing in Wakefield and they were undeterred. And they had a foot in the door, literally, so to speak

As you know I would never say that. Before reading this I had just written the opposite-I bet the clinical lab data will be fine, but beside the point as we move on the the next phase=trial.

The information that is to be revealed is not at all what counts and is not worth more thought. The data has to be pretty good or else a trial would not be planned. And the trial is all that matters anymore.

It will be nice to have the data come out and it will help make a splash- one hopes.

But only the trial counts anymore.

It has been put forward that there will be trial data in 3 months. Let's see where we are then.

The group arrived in Virginia without incident- it had been an easy travel day. It took them a few minutes but they settled on 10650 Pyramid Place as the spot to meet tomorrow early. Some even wondered about camping out- it was a 10 acre campus and they were taxpayers after all. First they would get the lay of the land.

The shareholders were ready to continue their week long meeting now in Manassas, not far away from the national battlefield where there were two famous Civil War battles,the first in 1861.

Would it take a battle to get answers from the RBL? They thought they were in the right place and were ready to talk.

Strangely enough, it had taken a battle to get them here. The battle of Wakefield, shareholders vs IP, had been a stalemate, and they had learned nothing. It was a battle for information, even though supposedly they were on the same side.

Why had it come to this? They wondered. Why would the IP man never mention the grant again after so much time had passed? What had happened to the paper the RBL was supposed to pre print? And then submit for peer review? Was it really a very good thing that nothing had come out yet, except a few paltry numbers reported by the company man?

That is what some folks wanted them to believe- but that dog won't hunt. Such nonsense.

They hoped that a peaceful group with masks and proper distancing could quietly ask for some answers that someone should have provided a long time ago.

So they set their alarms and hoped to sleep better for a change.

Er, umm, The trial has not started yet. IP supporters are on record here as saying trial in 6-7 weeks and some data out mid January. That is what a real doctor- and to this point a poor investor- would say.

LOL. She knows nothing worth knowing, none of them do, not DeGrado or Narayanan or the trial hires. Not Leo or the RBL.

All that counts - to you or me or Sanofi or Gilead- is trial success.

When is the FDA meet? When does the trial start? We can all be so confident in those deadlines, right? The last deadline- pre-pub- when was that, exactly?

Good grief. There is no "high probability of success" the B will stomp C in a human trial.

Let's do the math.

Truly high prob $20/ share now for B

Some chance of success= 20 cents a share.

ICUs fill up across Florida- but don't expect any info from your company about its research and a maybe trial. Just sit quietly in the corner and be happy to spend two dimes per share. Wait and see.

Creative writing is in fact the only alternative left to shareholders. It has turned out that the company will not or cannot provide answers to pressing basic questions.

The grant from 4 months ago? The data from tests done months ago? FDA meet or trial info?

Don't ask, don't tell. Leave it up to enterprising shareholders to ferret out key info, such as hiring a trials person. But don't tell them anything.

They only own the company.

And the country reels from surging cases of the corona virus

They were off! Another day without news and they had to try to get answers. The IP man had nothing to tell them for so long now that it was scandalous and they were taking things into their own hands They would set up camp outside the RBL at GMU and see what they could find out.

Iy was a nice day for driving though some took buses and there was a rumor that the IP man had hopped a plane south to join them.

The only group left behind were the yes men, those who had tried to calm the crowd with fake news. They could still be found in Wakefield, telling anyone they met that tomorrow was the big day and that B was the gold standard for COVID treatment. It was a bit sad when pressed that all they had to fall back on was a few data points leaked by Leo, their carnival barker boss. But now he was gone too.

The yes men were annoying to local Wakefield residents, since they kept coming up to people and reassuring them that no news was a good sign and that it meant that B was doing so well in tests that more tests had to be done. But the average man on the street was not interested in synthetic molecule talk and the yes men were increasingly picked up by police. Some ended up in cells for disturbing the peace and some seemed delusional enough to end up at the Melrose-Wakefield ED for evaluation.

Strangely, in the Mel-Wak ED the yes men were worse- they would not stay in their rooms and kept calling out that nearby patients with a cough or fever ought to be placed in a trial of some sort. They went out into the halls and repeatedly bothered patients and staff and eventually, had to be restrained, and then medicated. They were going on about green monkey kidney cells and how their molecule was a chosen molecule in a test of 11,552 and said that one day everyone would see the truth. Apparently that day of reckoning and revelation was at hand. Although it had been at hand for months already, it turned out. Were they part of a cult? Had they used the wrong illegal substance? It was not clear, at the time.

October 19 was indeed a big day for the IP crowd, and not because of company news. Of course the company had nothing to tell them, as it had nothing to say for so many days now, as cases and deaths from COVID mounted across the country.

It was a big day because they finally felt they were doing something to get the answers no one could be bothered to provide. Could they get answers? The RBL in photos on the web did not look especially inviting or friendly. They did not know. But they could try.

The weather for the RBL trip was looking good. The forecast for Manassas was mostly sunny with highs in the middle 70's and for the drive it looked good too. The crowd was ready to leave Massachusetts and head south. Truth be told they were ready for anything that involved action, since their investment had provided inaction for so long. Mostly they wondered why they had bothered to wait four months after the big announcements to do more. What had taken them so long?

So many had died and yet the company just had no updates. Was it the RBL that was stalling them? Did they really care about moving the trial forward after all? Why not bother to explain the delay?

It was enough to drive anyone crazy, and certainly enough to lead them to drive 500 miles for answers since none were forthcoming.

They had decided to wait until rush hour quieted down a bit on Monday, after the market open, on the off chance there was news. It was hard to shake the feeling that there might be news- how long, realistically, could the company keep them in the dark? And who was to blame? Was it mostly the fault of the RBL? Or the IP man? Or some of each, which was the more likely answer.

They took walks around Lake Quannapowitt to stretch their legs before the drive and to enjoy the sunshine and the leaves and fall colors before a day of travel.

It felt good to get ready for action after so many days of well, nothing, and they felt sheepish and ashamed to have listened to those who had kept saying news will be out tomorrow or Monday and it's gonna be big. It was so easy to believe that and to be lulled to sleep. They knew they had been asleep too long, dreaming sweet dreams of wonderful news and excitement after their shares had only dropped in value over the years.

Odd that there is suddenly so much confidence in this deadline when so many important dates have past the company by before...funny to focus on this one, now, all of a sudden.

Sept prepublication was a critical deadline and everyone was content to let that slide right by. Some are even suggesting November as the month for articles. That is pretty sad and says a lot about the state of affairs with the company

Wager fatigue...past wagers, August 2020:How about if we bet that the Sept prepublication date is accurate? After all, key data was available June 17. So if Leo says September then why not stand by it? Let's all wager about that, and if the pre-pub comes out, the nay sayers can stop posting until 2021? And vice versa. OK?

Another past wager: June 20: grant approval(or at least news) by Sept 1, end of summer. more than 2 months to hear back an answer. How about that wager?

Ugh.

True- a new investor might wonder, for example, how the company could be worth 20 cents, when there is a "high likelihood" that B beats C in a human trial. How could they understand that? How is such a thing possible? Is the share price 20 dollars, or 20 cents? They need to hear both sides to get some shot at reality.

It would be about 477 miles from Wakefield to Manassas, about 7 and 1/2 hours of driving. Lots of vehicles began to fill up on gas, while others began to look at plane and train options. Soon they would be hitting the road in hopes of answers that had eluded all of them for more than four months. The crowd hoped they could get answers before winter set in.

They were all concerned that the IP man did not even know which RBL to head for, but GMU felt right. It was somewhere to start and they had to do something.

Some in the crowd still said it was good they had heard nothing- it meant things were going really well. But most folks recognized nonsense when they heard it, and knew that starting the trial was the most important thing by far. And the trial could not start until the RBL put out data.

Why? Why? What would you have said 6 weeks ago? 4 weeks ago? 2 weeks ago? The very same thing? and then be off by 6 or 4 or 2 weeks already?

Actual data by Jan 9-23 would be a miracle.

Timeline, if correct would suggest a whisper from the divine. Or some alternate mundane source

So he turned to the crowd to ask what they thought about the RBL problem. People quickly looked it up, and were briefly stuck on a site of a large Mumbai based bank(RBL) but that took just a minute, and they were on to the NIH/NIAID map of Biocontainment Labs, 13 of them.

If I were the B testing site RBL where would I be, they wondered? The nearest appeared to be Tufts, but when they looked further, it turned out to be in North Grafton at the Vet School. That was not far away at all, but somehow it did not seem right.

Rutgers? Maybe? Chicago? Maybe? What about GMU? Lots of thousands of square feet of an RBLin Manassas VA for GMU and on the faculty was none other than A Narayanan, smiling back in a photo, talking about her interest in bunyaviruses, among others. (Bunnies have viruses, or what exactly?)

They could just get on 95 and head for Virginia.

And the GMU RBL mentioned SARS and many other viruses right up front, and biodefense work.

Did it make sense that the RBL would be the same one where Narayanan worked? Some work done on the taxpayer dime and some sent by IP- the $35,000 mentioned so long ago?

Where else to start? The crowd was antsy and ready for action and so they all put University BLVD Manassas VA into their direction apps and started looking for the best route.

Chapter 5: It was one of the most awkward moments of the current desperate situation. It was really a mess. The crowd was sick and tired of waiting for news from the RBL and had set Monday the 19th at 0930 as the departure time -after the usual failure to issue a PR. The carnival man reluctantly agreed as he was also tired of never having any answers

And here it was, another rainy NE fall day, miserable wet cold, not really an inviting day to plan a trip, but those were the breaks. It was fitting that it was now four entire months after the amazing June 17 PR had been so optimistic. But day after day and week after week had passed and here it was- October 17, with no papers and no word on a grant.

He was getting ready to face the crowd, and was trying to find the address for them all to enter to get directions for the route to the RBL. That was when he realized that he did not know where it was. He did not know which RBL was doing the research. They had never told him. The calls or the emails just said RBL and what the heck- no specific location?

He got out his cell: " Hello? RBL? This is the Brilacidin guy and I wanted to come visit and where are you anyway? I never actually knew, funny."

But the RBL phone attendant was not laughing. "I am not authorized to give you that information sir."

"Huh? What do you mean? I just want to know where all the lung studies and the kidney studies are being done."

RBL:" Sir. You have not been given this information for a reason"

IP man: "What are you talking about? My synthetic molecule has been in testing for months already."

RBL: "Sir, you know how this goes, don't you?"

IP man: "What? what? That old line about you could tell me but then you'd have to kill me? Are you kidding me? That silly line- c'mon now"

But the line was dead

Ahem. Got it. OK I recall your saying that you had been through a lot of FDA stuff- is that correct?

I still cannot fathom FDA making key decisions with not ready for prepublication data. How could the FDA to go forward with such an unusual drug with not ready for prime time info?

I don't see it. What are your thoughts?

Not a requirement, but what would be the reason for the delay? If well put together enough to convince the FDA then it should be good enough to pre publish. I would think the FDA would be getting ready to publish stuff and not prelim

Or so I would think.

I suppose that I cannot believe that CEO has all the data and would not put it out. What would his motives be? Data worse than he let on? Better? Confusing.