Bavi in age-related macular degeneration -- a new publication by Rolf Brekken, et al.

I didn't pick up that brochure but thanks for the link.
The Gaylord is a monster venue; you can get lost in there. I didn't appreciate the $26 parking fee though and as a DC'er I'd rather that they use our down town convention center and get the tax revenue. I didn't pick up the CLDX brochure either but I did snatch a couple mini Milky Ways. Not too happy about the CLDX stock performance either so I guess they owed me a treat.

After the reply on test sites I asked if this is part of the reason why AZ had confidence in PPHM conducting the trial. Steve demurred on this and declined to answer.

Steve King did mention that they will be using the same sites for the large collaboration with AZ.

Steve assured me that enrollment is still on schedule for the end of December 2015 when I spoke with him Friday evening. I should have been better prepared with questions. I had his ear and had the opportunity. North also spoke with him an may have comments when he shows up again on this board.

One thing I've worried about is the geologic stability of Tulstin and its proximity to the santa anna fault zone. Even a small tremor could disrupt the production of biologics including Bavi. It is especially scary looking at Avid photos and seeing large vats up on stilts...
I used to often visit California and was there shortly after the Northridge and Wittier quakes.

Ok, I've been busy today too. Went to aikido this morning and got tossed around and slammed to the mat time and again for two hours. (Ok, I was out there tossing around other guys too.) Had errands to run this afternoon, etc.

Regarding the seminar last night:
1) Birge was the first speaker and led off discussing ps exposure on apoptic (sp?) cells and cancer. And introduced TAM receptors and mentioned PD-1 and PD-L1 signaling. It seems that one variant of TAM can be neutralized by vitamin K or worfran !
In general the speakers before Brekken reviewed the action of various receptors and cells in immune inhibition -- TIM, TAM, Mer, MDSC's, etc. The discussion was rapid and addressed to researchers conversant in the field so much flew over my head.

2)Graham emphasized Mer: a dual taget for cancer. Mer inhibition polarized Macrophages from M2 to M1 and showed results in mice.

3)Gabrilovich spoke of the presence of MDSC's in the tumor environment as predictors of clinical outcome in cancer.

It was shown that clinically addressing each factor in turn by current treatment could improve survival but none resulted in acquired immunity and flat line long term survival.

Some slides (Birges) showed how TAM / TIM bind to ps resulting in immune inhibition.

4) Brekken's talk was a relief, much easier to understand -- then again I am very familiar with the topic and action of bavi.

So the seminar presented a summary of the various known mechanisms of immune inhibition in cancer and their relation to ps exposure and then the reversal of these effects when ps is cloaked by the binding with Bavi.

I'm sure that the conference attendees who sat in on the seminar got much more out of the presentations than I.

During the discussion period, the question of the danger of auto-immunity came up. Ever since investing in PPHM that has worried me. Could bavi attaching to ps in apoptic (ugh sp again???) cause an auto-immune response? Clearly experience with Bavi shown no such effect. But nobody had a clear understanding of just why. (So its not just me ) Brekken suggested that this may be due to the relatively low clinical doses of Bavi and that such an effect might only begin to show up at much higher dosages.

Also a question was asked regarding ps exposure on platelets and whether Bavi might affect clotting. It was pointed out that no clinical evidence of this has been shown. There was no one willing to venture a reason why but it clearly was not a problem at current clinical dosages.

North asked a question regarding fully human vs chimeric Bavi. Brekken saw no problem with the chimeric version. Once again at the clinical dose levels the body does not seem to mount a defense against chimeric Bavi.

This is just my understanding of the seminar but cancer immunology is definitely not my area of expertise so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm just back from an excellent Peregrine sponsored seminar featuring Raymond Birge, Douglas Graham, Dmitry Gabrilovich and Rolf Brekken. Maria Karasarides of AZ had short comments during the discussion.
Talked to Steve King, Carlton Johnson, Bruce Freimark and others from Peregrine. I'm sure North will have a summary soon. (I also spoke with North and his wife)
The session was well attended and I was plied with free food!
North caught Maria from AZ after the close and was having a good discussion with here when I left to head home for supper.

I might try to sneak in myself after work. Just a short distance from here.

I decided to stay at work and attend a seminar on quantum computing rather than fight the traffic to Baltimore.

Immunotherapy Conference & Symposia at Tri-Con 2016. FINAL AGENDAS JUST RELEASED!

Session:EMERGING STRATEGIES FOR CHECKPOINT INHIBITOR COMBINATION IMMUNOTHERAPY

Combination Immunotherapies - Opening the Gate: Increasing Tumor Infiltrating Activated T-Cells to Optimize and Expand the Benefits of Immune Checkpoint Therapies
Jeff T. Hutchins, Ph.D., Vice President, Preclinical Research, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals

CP + MH persuaded me, 125k yes on 3

But who is the white knight?
ou
Mais, qui est le Chavalier Blanch?

Don't let me anywhere near a chem (or especially a bio-chem lab). I'm a slob. I dissolved my lab notes in 1st year chem lab by knocking over a beaker of boiling nitric acid....

Yes it can interfere with itself and since the surface is curved and the beam has some (unspecified) width and initial duration things can get, um, complicated...

Hubris...

In my case it took 6.5 years past the M.S. working in the lab at a 60 to 80 hours per week including Saturdays and Sundays. 10 publications in physics journals including a couple in one of the most prestigious as first author. Writing and defending a 300 page dissertation, etc.
All to advance to Ph.D.

I regard a person with a "Ph.D." from a diploma mill as equivalent to a poseur claiming military honors he/she didn't merit.

It is true that there may now be a place for legitimate web based education especially for lessor degrees or in fields where years of research can be performed in the field. (Say an anthropologist in the heart of Borneo.) But, evidently, Columbus University was not legit.

But a Ph.D. from a known diploma mill! That's just embarrassing.
And an insult to those of us who had to work for years to get our degree at an accredited institution.

It reminds me of a smooth talking coworker who, it turned out, had his "Ph.D." from a similar institution. We just had to ignore him as best we could. He moved from lab to lab too as people found him out. I do hope that she is in fact truly qualified for her post.

Could it be a computer spelling checker mistake. Columbus University when she meant to type Columbia University?

So should Bavi prove highly effective in combination with multiple other drugs, I would envision Peregrine could limit its domestic marketing to BP for bundling with their products. BP would then market the combo to oncologists. That should be doable I would think. This might constitute a partnership in a limited sense.

For use with radiation, perhaps equipment manufactures would consider distributing the Bavi enhancement.

"Can peregrines fly backwards?"
No, but they sure can dive!

Then again the doctors, nurses and medical techs may get frustrated with the situation and up and emigrate. Ordinary medical supplies may become scarce, etc. All having severe impact on our sites in Greece.

Loof, I'll take $6.08 for 12/31/15 and $12.16 for 6/30/16.

This rumor may be another ploy to shake shares from perma-longs. Everyone calculates how rich they will be in a months time then pull the rug out from under them. Blame SK and the BOD. Stir discontent and disgust, etc...

(Darn, I can't afford that Mercedes Maybach after all. Then again it might be a problem parking it on the street in Capitol Hill and wouldn't last long with all the auto thefts. Maybe I'll just have to continue driving my dented up 10 year old Element.)

Up stream / down stream??
Maybe someone should ask Rolf Brekken what is meant by that when he speaks at the NYAS meeting in a few weeks. Unfortunately I can't make it.

Nature on p values...

Could someone comment and contrast Bavi with Celldex's Varlilumab? Looks like a serious competitor.

http://celldex.com/AACRposter2015_Varlilumab.pdf

N40k could expand on that. What was your impression on the poster content?

Constitutionally I resist conspiracy theories, however I've been wondering for some time when did the front line NSCLC results become apparent and when did the 2nd line begin. If someone was messing with the randomization on both test they should have realized that Bavi was much more effective than providing a 5 or 10% improvement in OS and than another simple randomization tampering would be detected. Could this have something with the late stage label switching, and later panic leave of absence/resignation of JB?

Lunch over back to work...

Though I could pop up to Philly to check out the posters I'm more seriously considering heading to the NYAS presentation on May 21st. Anyone else considering attending?

DARPA may be small with respect to other DoD agencies, but it is much larger than Peregrine and its impact much greater than most research funders. (I was just over there for a meeting last month.) I'm only surprised that the Ebola contract is considered sufficiently DARPA hard.

You have a point in regards to medical science. Over the years much prognostication has relied on shaky inferences. Thank heavens today we are building on a more fundamental understanding of basic processes. (i.e., Thorpe & Bracken's work.) Bio-science is very difficult. Extrapolating from that to climate change denial however is not justified. Assembling temperature readings from all over the world is not fundamentally difficult these days and is well understood. I am invested in PPHM because I believe the science.

Yes rode that wave with a lot of patience or obliviousness.

(I forgot about it and one day was surprised with a lot of money in my account. Now I got a big estimated tax bill coming due.)

Well, Chris, get out your pen and write one yourself. Publish on Seeking Alpha.
Of course your friends at Peregrine may be a bit pissed at you.

Humm... And just how many FDA employees have you known?
I've known 4, all PhD's and all very conscientious about their job and protecting the public health.

Maybe Steve was thinking of some year on the Mayan calendar.

Oh no, it came to an end some time ago!

The villagers are getting restless.
They're taking up pitchforks and torches!
They're marching to the castle!

Thanks Golfho. Reinforces my estimations exactly.
Florida bah... From Preto Villamil, Galápagos, Ecuador.