Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
djohn, web address for article?
jess, thought-provoking that. Definite avenue of expoloration. Chen, huh. We all prospered by Chen association. Moving the ball forward sometimes requires laterals. Pharma industry policy in this country is a strategy for entrenched interests: stall, stall, stall. Increasingly the scientific community is investigating anti -PS; or sitting on it; using it; or trying to develop a credible knock off. Everyone who knows about anti-PS must be intrigued. No bad news. All good. Can someone steal it? Surpass it? When will the present stall end?
jess, at first blush it seems PPHM owes thanks to BioChem Partners if that company is now scripting PPHM narrative--a definite improvement. Maybe I'll apply for a job there.
Moby, any thoughts on why PPHM would precipitously drop(what was it, about 25%?) during the "algorhythmic trading debacle" considering that institutional holdings of PPHM stock are allegedly only a fraction of that number. Was it a cascade of stop orders being sold? Can't imagine that being the biggest factor. Was it related to "unowned" naked shorts? Curious. What's your idea? It seems safe to assume that programmed trading is a bigger factor in PPHM daily activity than average holder here (aka "me") thinks it is.
bungler, methinks you are right
thanks KT. I have seen CJ's note, and have posted on the subject, but even if the info is not new it is always good to see widened exposure. I am really disappointed in the latest turn of events in the market because at a certain level of holdings we all start thinking Aruba (the wealth effect), and now...reality. Wish I had the cash to buy more. My only addiction. Best regards. doc
good stuff Jess, thanks.
The rights to NHS76 were also involved in this deal, and NHS76 is one PPHM stablemate I had forgotten about. Alan Epstein,et.al. publication of 2005 gives the detaions of NHS76, "Vasopermeability-Enhancing Agent to Increase The Uptake and Efficacy of Cancer Chemotherapy", in which the investigators wrote: "Compared with drug treatment alone, NHS76/PEP2 pretreatment substantially improved the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents in solid tumor models. Tumor suppression was most pronounced in those groups of mice bearing tumors known to be sensitive to the specific drug under study. However, in certain instances, tumors previously known to be resistant to specific single chemotherapeutic agents were shown to respond by the addition of NHS76/PEP2 pretreatment. Conclusions: NHS76/PEP2 seems an excellent candidate to improve the value of standard chemotherapy drug treatment by virtue of its ability to increase the uptake of drugs in solid tumors selectively."
NHS76 sounds like a good ticket.
Nice wildhorse. I was one of the many royally HOSED by the DNDN debacle, a slam-dunk that dinked.
North 4K: Now you're talkin'.
With institutional interest comes more brutal short-term means of driving the price down to grab loose (stop-loss)shares. Hang in.
north4k: interesting stuff! thanks
PPHM poster-performance at AACR rates an "A" for interest and elegance of execution, but a "C+" from those looking for something radically new. I was intrigued enough by the 3rd poster presentation on Duramycin to research it for an hour+ this AM before going to work. I knew little about Duramycin: knew it was an antibiotic because it ended in -mycin; couldn't pinpoint anything specific about it in my memory bank; didn't know what tradename it was sold under for human use; and wrote off the memory lapse to my own vacuous grip of pharmacology. Even after reading Thorpe's patent applications relating to it, and recalling his 2004 paper on the subject (procedings of AACP, 2004), the word "Duramycin" meant almost nothing to me. Now this: "A new cancer imaging study from researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center showed that a phosphatidylethanolamine (-PE) targeting peptide is an effective tumor imaging agent. PE is a another phospholipid, in addition to PS, present inside on the inner aspect of healthy cell membranes. It also becomes exposed on the outside of cells that line tumor blood vessels and on virus-infected cells. Peregrine researchers have shown that PE-targeting agents have anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. Did they have to construct a complicated MAB missile to home in on -PE? Nope. There was already one out there: Duramycin. What the hell?! Duramycin? Any of you taken any lately? Probably without knowing it. Turns out that Duramycin is a weak sister to Vancomycin, the drug of last resort in, for instance, Methacillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA). Duramycin is one of a family of naturally produced antibiotics known as "Lantibiotics," which are FDA approved for widespread use in our foods, especially cheeses and some meats. Duramycin is not particularly strong, compared to other members of the lantibiotic group, but it binds avidly to -PE, and almost exclusively to -PE, especially the -PE on tumor blood vessels--15-40% of them, as well as necrotic tumor cells. Duramycin also acts like Bavi- to call in the body immune police to help clean up messes. {More on lantibiotics at http://www.bentham.org/cpps/sample/cpps6-1/0007K.pdf} So what's the bottom line? One must apparently read between the lines. What's the difference between this poster presentation and the 2004 paper? Apparently Thorpe has constructed a Duramycin that no longer kills off red blood cells (an inconvenient side-effect of Dura-, now gone) and added a "label" that lights up for imaging studies, elegantly displaying tumor boundaries. Market potential? Probably a lot cheaper and as good as PET/CT combo now used. But the ace-kicker is again the side-effect of immunostimulation. Here is the strategy: If you have cancer, how much and where? Image with Dura-. The Dura- also has immuno-stimulatory properties. Take another dose of Dura, maybe some Bavi-, or even archaic old Avastin, and have another look. Interesting stuff. The lantibiotics are actually quite new: a whole class of potentially therapeutic (and diagnostic) agents.
swg_tdr, a complex issue, lab testing for sensitivity to various anti-cancer agents. Here are a couple good website references: http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/herceptin/TE1PBDIBSPSA1DHC4
http://www.herceptin.com/her2-breast-cancer/testing-education/what-is.jsp
Not sure what your interest is in Herceptin, and testing for HER2 receptors. The article points out the variation in results between labs,typical of any lab procedure that requires complicated preparation of specimen; specimen-marker interaction; and human observation to quantitate results. That variation in interpretation should put everyone reading this on notice that there is variation in interpretation of many biopsy results, and it is only common sense to insist on a 2nd opinion pathology reading from a 2nd pathologist in borderline cases or instances of rare tumor types. To verify cancer v. benign biopsy results the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology was always the standard in the past. Now MD Anderson, Dana Farber, etc. are considered good 2nd opinion sites.
Herceptin receptor testing is necessary because not all breast cancers over-express the ectodermal growth factor, a phenom. which leads to more aggressive growth, and it would be a waste of $45k in treatment expense.
One of the best things about PPHM Bavi is that it will probably not require receptor testing since most solid tumors vessels express
inverted -PS. The movement in industry at this point is undeniably away from MABs toward small molecules that can be administered orally. The problem with Erbitux, Avastin, Herceptin, etc. is that they are already dinosaurs. Unlike small molecule candidates they are physically large and unable to penetrate between cells within the intercellular matrix. That is one possible reasons for the underwhelming response to PPHM Bavituximab at this point by big pharma. However, small molecule treatment has a ways to go down the thorny FDA approval pathway too. The factors that make Bavi- so compelling is that it is able to carry a payload of small molecules in a very specific manner directly to tumor. That is huge. Rather than taking the small molecule by mouth and have it distribute throughout the body and then concentrate at tumor site, IV Bavi homes on tumor vasculature, and also pumps the immune system.
Nice to see the market makers are keeping us in mind. S'pose they've figured out that not swamping the market with shelf shares and a rising price/share makes their job easier?
thanks wildhorse, PPHM poster presentation is an elegant display of PPHM know-how and cooperative research. "Water-tight" research effort I would say. Only question is whether or not someone comes up with a better Bavi--a way to block -PS other than with PPHM's MAB, Bavituximab. You can imagine the computer compound screening going on at big pharmas, and behind the scenes at academic centers, especially Duke. Sounds like everyone needs a dose of Bavi to help purge the body of enveloped viruses.
mojo, the pricing strategy relates to insurance company resistance or acceptance of payment which is cost effective at start-up in overcoming cost considerations. Equal or better efficacy is obviously a requirement or preferment, but equal or better pricing is the key.
nuke, all is evolving and especially competition. Rhodanine compounds have been known for years to be pharmacologically active, so variations of the molecule are a logical pursuit.
What would make me uneasy about the UCLA compound is the relative lack of specificity by which it attaches to and damages both normal and viral cells, and the damage done to normal cells may be repaired by the cell whereas damage done to a static viral cell membrane may not be. This one has a ways to go. However, it is not in the cards that Bavi will be the last and only agent developed to fight pathogenic enveloped viruses. Actually I am amazed that Bavi and Cotara are still in the forefront of anticancer and antiviral attack. Something to think about for those out there that think things move slowly at PPHM...
only question I have at this point is, will Moby get out of his short position before the bell?
PPHMfan, yeah, volume this week, and today's speaks volumes to me.
hope the damage is done for today 'cause I just bought another 6k for 3.88. That's about it for me for awhile. Runnin' outa juice. I think [hope?] there will be some pleasant surprises for next week's action.
wxcbs, similar to the fact that a market cannot exist without a seller for every buyer?
wxcbs, poster sessions typically go for the entire duration of a conference, and are there for all to stroll by and look at. Granted [Moby], poster presentations are usually not earth shaking or ground-breaking, as are plenary session oral pronouncements, but they are nothing to sneeze at, especially in such an august setting.
cheynew, yep, over $4. Who would want to be out overnite...considering what happened this morning.
BAVI favorable results are welcome, but no real surprise to those who have followed the science and results for the past several years. Remember that BAVI is a "double-armed" monoclonal antibody which very specifically "homes in on" a newly described docking site, and is capable of carrying a payload of anti-cancer agents in one arm while latching onto that exclusive -PS docking site of tumor vasculature with the other. The anti-cancer agent it is capable of carrying is then released to infiltrate and kill cancer cells. The immunological boost it gives the body's cancer fighting system also increases the body's ability to clean up dead and dying cells. If "naked" Bavi + adjuvant can cure 30% of breast cancers, imagine what "armed" BAVI will do. We're looking at Bavi results when it is being used with one of its arms tied behind its back. Simply amazing.
glad CJ's posts are up front on a day like this..for the curious. PPHM finally getting some of the investor attention it deserves. Good luck all.
threes: do you think clinical investigators [and hospital/oncology "entities] can ethically buy stock in a company they are doing investigative work for, or do you think that would constitute trading on inside information and a conflict of interest?
until2k: nice post. Agreed
Bungler, precisely [almost]. I apologize for plagiarizing your adjective,"exciting," posted almost simultaeously. Despite glaring deficiencies, Avastin has been a groundbreaker, and we must respect (and pay for) what our predecessors went through to share the treatment stage with an exclusive team, the one involved in cancer treatment. Avastin was one of the first MABS for solid tumors, and solid tumors had been declared resistant to MABs. Well solid tumors remain resistant to MABs, but now MABs are accepted as natural players. MABs haven't supplanted the chemotherapy poisoners, radiation-oncology friars, or all the cancer surgeons. MABs are now part a massed attack, not a magic bullet. Yet. Bungler, you are right about Bavi's MOA. The initial strategy was to use BaviLOADED. It is a double-armed MAB. Bavi can carry a payload. Avastin cannot. And there are a scazillion of cancercidal payload types waiting in the wings: from PPHMs small molecule cancer-killing small molecule contender: tTF [truncated Tissue Factor), to the old standby RAI (radioactive iodine), one of my favorites. So Bavi and Avastin home on different docking sites of blood vessels cells (endothelial)nourish cancers. Another things special about Bavi (beside being double-armed and capable of carrying a payload) is it stimulates the body immune system, causing it to produce more signaling agents [cytokines] that act for all the world like cops on motorcycles directing traffic. With viruses [read HIV] the traffic cops ride protein rafts and use those to plug micro-entry sites into the cell interior which HIVs use to invade. Block them. And attack them too with existing [and future]immunizations. Throw some Bavi in with each immunization dose. Great stuff. We have Bill and Melinda to thank for that last little tidbit. And thanks to the hundreds of other collaborators who came together for one shining moment at Duke...to help make a difference. Hoorah. Congrats to all you in the labs doin' the "down and dirty" work to put Bavi across the goal-line. Yeah, I'll settle for a nickle a day increase in stock value for my sacrifice here.
cj: correct...exciting times. The "house croupier" is apparently listening to borborygmus generated within concerned stockholders. Examp:Poison Pill at $11? Preposterous. A joke? But a nickle a day = $21 per share in twelve months. Those are numbers I can live with and keep my mouth shut.
lonewolf: the reality of the last two days is that nobody with any investment money reads JExperimentalMed. If I had to choose between the crap table and PPHM, I would definitely favor the latter. Chances MUCH better than 50% at this point IMO., and the action is definitely slower. Buenos suerte.
chey thanks for jazz ditty. It was a lot of work and shows a firm understanding of the principles. Jazz:a natural-born teacher. Also, CJ: have I said 'thank you' lately? Tanks a million.
undeniably good news today, but probably not "up front" enough for the general public. For those who think this board is a waste of time the news today should make them reconsider, because the news is definitely more meaninful to those who have followed events closely for a long time. And of course Duke has to date failed to uniquivocably shine a light where it should be focused: on PPHM. But that is the way with academia. Thankfully PPHM does not have to start over with animal trials, and settle for "a possible way that one could think about the kinds of response you'd want to have on hand before a virus shows up," said study author Dr. M. Anthony Moody, chief medical officer at Duke University's Human Vaccine Institute. PPHM is moving forward. Duke can start all over.
One Q&A says it all: Does Duke have an Avid?
Damned with faint praise? Couldn't have been fainter. "It's enough to make us want to start all over [with making an AIDS vaccine]," the Duke spokesperson said. Maybe they SHOULD start all over. But is it anywhere evident that crowd has any interest in working with PPHM and Bavi? They found that four widely disparate antibodies worked similarly to block AIDS virus entry into cells, and one of those was a better Bavi (GM632). We don't know which of the four, PGN632, P1, IS4, or CL1, works better. They didn't say. And if there's four, there must be a whole lot more. Maybe the should start all over with another anti-lipid antibody,say, phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylcholine instead of phyosphatidylserine. If my memory serves, Thorpe had the foresight to patent all those, and a lot more. But the race is on now for real. PPHM has an incredible lead in the race, and the "ace kicker" is its in-house manufacturing arm, Avid, with the know-how to put these incredibly complex compounds together in an FDA-approved manner. I think Duke and that entire vaccine crowd are spinning their wheels, and they just today ran up the white flag with a veiled claim of victory. Start over indeed. They are barking up the wrong tree. If Gates isn't supporting PPHM by now, he will be soon, but it's distinctly possible we won't need his help.
toolong, I'm in overall basic agreement re. your feelings about management. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and my many weaknesses include business and the stock market , so I have to leave those evaluations to others of you. I do understand some psychology though, and know that frustration (when goals are thwarted) there is usually anger and a need to assign blame. Lord knows we are all frustrated...and those in the research labs and the executive "suites" of PPHM must be among the most. Good luck to you all. Let's count our blessings this weekend.
gawd pphmtoolong, I don't know. Maybe it is an over-reaction, but I've just seen this type of academic behavior too many times before. Almost exactly one year ago at AACR meeting this was released:" The researchers from Peregrine, Affitech and UT Southwestern Medical Center confirmed previous observations that in vitro, anti-PS antibodies stimulate the tumor microenvironment to recruit monocytes and other immune cells to the tumor with resulting anti-tumor effects, most likely via cell-mediated mechanisms such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Their data further defined the role of anti-PS antibodies in mediating tumor cell cytotoxicity and the tumor microenvironment, showing that the anti-PS antibody induced a sequential release of cytokines and beta-chemokines and stimulated enhanced macrophage recruitment to tumors. Furthermore, the researchers showed that in vitro, PGN635 induced antibody-dependent death of endothelial cells, the same cell type found in the tumor vasculature, a key target of anti-PS cancer therapy. The studies also demonstrated the anti-tumor potential of PGN635 in vitro and in a number of animal cancer models. Specifically, in a mouse model of prostate cancer, treatment with a mouse equivalent of PGN635 significantly retarded the growth of tumors by more than 90%."
Granted, the Duke group is talking about HIV, and not cancer, but what have they "discovered" since essentially the same information was presented 1-6-09, NIAID REVIEW OF MOODY/HAYNES’ 10-14-08 PAPER AT AIDS’08/CAPETOWN: “NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES TO THWART HIV”. I'll repeat: I can see why King said PPHM has moved on beyond the Duke collaboration. In that crowd is not where we need to be. Can you tell I'm still sore about PPHM being forced into emphasis on the immunostimulatory mechanism. It's a great incidental observation...and one that Duke has had nothing to do with...but it has slowed the eventual revelation of Bavi's true potential as a double-armed attacker.
Barton Haynes:no friend of ours. The JEM article is mostly a proposed probable mechanism of action of anti-lipid ABs against HIV entry into/infection of cells.
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified a set of naturally occurring antibodies that can block one of the key ways the AIDS virus gains entry into certain blood cells. I'm not sure whether Duke scientists discovered the antibodies (I thought Affitec discovered PGN635/632)or not, but the article is clearly about HOW the MABs work. “The beauty of this newly identified set of antibodies -- called polyreactive anti-phospholipid antibodies"... “Our[sic] research suggests we may be able to harness them..." (we already knew we could harness them) and enhance their anti-viral activity with a vaccine to fight HIV directly,” Moody says. Here we go again! The virologists and their vaccines. Now they are going to help us! Moody says the antibodies, PGN632, P1, IS4 and CL1, do not appear to have any [sic] (note, ANY!)pathogenic features, even though other members of the class do. Earlier studies by others [that would be Thorpe, et.al] have demonstrated that anti-phospholipid antibodies have anti-viral effects, but “what we have done in this paper is to show how they do that,” Moody says. (BFD.Interesting, but nothing to run to your broker about. It's always nice to postulate WHY a successful agent works). "Through a series of laboratory tests on blood taken from HIV-infected patients...Moody discovered that when these antibodies {PGN632,etc} bind to white blood cells (monocytes), they cause them [WBCs] to secrete substances called chemokines that block HIV from docking with its favorite entry point into a blood cell, the CCR5 receptor. “In other words, they don’t go after individual viral particles directly, but instead, indirectly, by creating a chemical roadblock at one of the virus’ most commonly used portals.” (hardly new information)..."important because most HIV strains use the CCR5 receptor to gain entry into a cell. Since it is one of the earliest events in the process of infection, being able to potentially intervene at that juncture could be meaningful.[duh]
And now Barton weighs in: "While the findings still have to be tested clinically [they have been...and are being..], they do suggest a new way the immune system might be manipulated to thwart HIV, said Barton Haynes, MD, director of CHAVI and the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and senior author of the study. “We have long assumed that a successful vaccine would probably need to attack HIV on multiple fronts," Haynes says. "and this study shows A VACCINE THAT COULD ELICIT these polyreactive antibodies could recruit both components to fight HIV.” “These findings have given us one more potential way to use the immune system to fight HIV.” So typical academia shenanigans. Haynes and Duke U trying to horn in on the action. No wonder Kind said PPHM has moved on beyond that crowd. A vaccine that could elicit the body's naturally occurring Bavi (PGN632)? How about injecting the real thing? And adding a cancer killer to it? This kind of academic CR_P just really yanks my chain.
jess,"who's to blame for share price?" is the obverse of "who should we credit with keeping the company afloat" through daunting financial times. The share price today seems about appropriate for a global evaluation of the company, and does not include a huge percentage of air or speculation which gives rise to greater volatility, a phenomenon which has clearly and spectacularly been quenched time after time. I'm no happier than you about the $$s I am underwater with this stock, but have chosen to stick around and continue to buy on the dips...like yesterday. Good luck! We're all about due for some.
jess, "who's to blame" [for PPHm share price]? Maybe it should be "who should get the credit?" A unique opportunity exists with PPHM for those who have done their homework [and even those who haven't]. PPHM has a fully FDA accredited pharmaceutical production company, Avid, capable of manufacturing arguably some of the most complex therapeutic molecules used to treat humans... no small claim or accomplishment. Avid is not a phantom or a theory. Avid produces useful products on a daily basis, and is capable of producing experimental [new, formulated] compounds or established generic compounds...and turning a profit on its own. PPHM also has a credible and exciting group of therapeutic agents aimed at cancer and viral infections, two in advanced stages of human testing, advanced enough to have established that they are safe and effective, and how safe and effective is being quantitated in now in human trials. Looking across the spectrum of securities for sale, there is a plethora of companies with undervalued stock, from finance to energy to biotech, etc. PPHM is not undervalued in the same way as, say, BAC or DYN. And there is no significant speculation built into PPHM share price today, imo, because of the "real" increased value of Avid. As many posters here have demonstrated, the vast potential of Bavi, Cotara, and other pipeline agents are not remotely factored into current price. The market for PPHM stock begs for news at this point, and I think there will be continued good news in the next several months (to years).