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RE "Musk also railed against Covid restrictions in his Telsa factory in CA"
In contrast to how he just kowtowed to Beijing wrt Tesla Shanghai on a much less lethal Omicron wave.
Maybe 10X that would be enough reviewing some of the updates in cancer Tx space. eg. iPSC space has been hot because of FATE's story so many jump on that bandwagon. Then you listened to the newer ones like IPSC (Century - yeah they took that symbol ) and the CEO can't even answer simple questions like what's being worked on in recent fireside-char conference. You wonder what else the VCs pumped in the last 2 years so they can exit.
No wonder XBI is in trouble when promising clinical results turn into liquidity traps. So many recent IPO/SPAC companies based upon ideas barely out of labs and mice stages. The space needs to be swept by the broom of bankruptcy.
AFMD - Explains it. CFO's timing is out of phase. Last big offering he did in Jan 2021 before big data reveal at AACR in April. Offering went off at 6, stock peaks >11. This guy is costing the company and investors many millions.
AFMD - extraordinary data and over the top comments (even though from oncologists) were sell signals apparently. I am concluding that the only viable strategy for small companies working on cancer Tx is to be bought out.
PS. UK press had positive followup articles on news release from ICR London about AFM24 for solid tumors (separate from AFM13 that had great data on blood cancers). Readers reactions were quite enlightening. About half the reactions thought researchers and companies should not be spending resources on cancer treatment since it is a disease of the aged and ultimately lead to death.
AFMD - Oncologists comments out of AACR plenary presentation seems out of character in terms of giddiness. The few oncologist friends that I know are typically subdued and fearful of being positive.
https://www.onclive.com/view/nk-cells-plus-bispecific-antibody-delivers-strong-results-in-advanced-lymphoma
concluding paragraph -
“Never before in mankind have we seen this approach, really leading to pretty staggering results,” Timothy Yap, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, a medical oncologist and associate director of translational research in the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said. “Everyone can see for themselves how impressive these results are. In addition to that, the actual tolerability profile is truly excellent with no instances of cytokine release syndrome, no neurotoxicity, no GVHD. Truly, truly impressive.”
discl - long since mid 2018
AFMD - More details about P1 patients that started on lower doses that subsequently received second cycles at RP2D.
https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/events/conferences-trial-results/aacr-2022-affimed-shows-2021-was-no-fluke
AFMD - afm13 AACR data release. Plenary presentation in a few hours.
https://www.affimed.com/affimed-presents-updated-clinical-data-from-phase-1-2-study-of-afm13-precomplexed-with-cord-blood-derived-nk-cells-at-aacr-annual-meeting/
Probably. Wondering if MMAEs have a class issue with peripheral neuropathy and potentially PML (seen with BV) with longer use.
AFMD - AFM24 monotherapy p1 dose escalation trial showing SDs in 1/3 of solid tumors. Comments from Royal Marsden UK clinical trial site. Evrybody's attn is on AFM13
>>>>
AACR 2022: New 'killer' immunotherapy shows early promise in range of solid tumours
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False colour scanning electron micrograph of a cluster of pancreatic cancer cells grown in culture.
A new type of immunotherapy making use of the immune system’s ‘natural killer cells’ could offer potential against a range of cancers that can evade current treatments, early results from a phase I trial suggest.
Researchers found the new immunotherapy showed signs of effectiveness in a third of patients with a range of advanced cancers that had stopped responding to standard treatment, including bowel, lung and pancreatic cancers.
The immunotherapy, known as AFM24, redirects the body’s own natural killer cells and engages them to kill tumour cells, without having to go through a complex process to re-engineer a patient’s own cells, as happens with CAR-T cell therapy.
The researchers believe the new treatment has the potential to be safer and less complex than cell therapies like CAR-T, and might also work against a wider range of cancer types.
Ongoing phase I trial
An international team including researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust assessed the new treatment in 24 patients initially in the ongoing phase I trial.
Early findings are being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022.
The trial, funded by the drug’s manufacturer Affimed N.V., is testing the immunotherapy’s safety and appropriate dosage, as well as its efficacy in solid tumours positive for EGFR – a key protein often involved in cancer growth.
A third of patients evaluated (8 out of 24) responded to the immunotherapy and saw their cancer stop growing after being treated with AFM24. This is a promising finding for a phase I clinical trial, as early-phase trials are typically run in patients who have very advanced cancers as a last resort.
Our researchers regularly present their latest findings at the AACR Annual Meeting in the US.
Find out more about the AACR conference
Patients saw their cancer shrink or stop growing
Two patients with bowel cancer and one with lung cancer who received the immunotherapy saw their cancer shrink or stop growing for more than three months.
AFM24, administered intravenously, was generally well tolerated by patients and the researchers were able to recommend a dose for further evaluation.
The immunotherapy has a ‘warhead’ targeted at EGFR, which is commonly produced by lung, bowel, kidney, stomach, pancreatic and biliary cancers. The treatment works by activating natural killer cells, immune cells that release toxic molecules to kill tumour cells, and directing them to cancer cells expressing EGFR – increasing their ability to selectively kill cancer cells.
The next phase of this study will further evaluate the effectiveness of AFM24 and is now ongoing. Further studies have also been launched to evaluate AFM24 in combination with other immunotherapies such as atezolizumab to target EGFR-positive tumours.
Immunotherapy shows signs of effectiveness
The trial’s UK lead Dr Juanita Lopez, Clinical Researcher at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Natural killer cells are an essential part of the immune system and are able to recognise cancer cells. This new immunotherapy, AFM24, can redirect natural killer cells to tumours by targeting a protein called EGFR, which is often found on the surface of cancer cells. Our early findings suggest it shows signs of effectiveness in some patients with very advanced cancers who have stopped responding to conventional treatments.
“This treatment is still highly experimental and our trial is at an early stage, but we are excited by its potential. It does not have to be personalised for each patient like CAR-T cell therapy, so it could potentially be cheaper and faster to use, and might work against a wider range of cancers.”
'Highly innovative'
Professor Kristian Helin, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:
“We have seen major strides in the use of immunotherapy for cancer over recent years, with particular excitement over the use of ‘cell therapies’ to direct immune cells at tumours, often by engineering a patient’s own cells.
“This new treatment is highly innovative because it finds a way to direct natural killer cells within the immune system to tumours without requiring complex and expensive re-engineering of a patient’s own cells. So far, we’ve only seen initial findings in a small group of patients, but the results look promising, and we’re optimistic that this could be a new type of immunotherapy for cancers that are otherwise hard to treat.”
'The least side effects'
Nursing home Estates Manager Richard Condie, 64 from Surrey, was diagnosed with bowel cancer at his local hospital in 2015 and was treated with surgery. However, after being referred to The Royal Marsden for further investigations, scans revealed the disease had spread to his liver. He has since taken part in three clinical trials at the hospital and is currently being treated with AFM24, which has stabilised his cancer and shrunk some of his tumours. Richard said:
“Since 2015, I have been treated with various chemotherapies, an immunotherapy as well as two surgeries which all, for a period of time, worked. However, by January 2021, I was told I had run out of options. About five months later, I was really relieved that, thanks to genetic testing, I was able to join this new trial, which I started in October 2021.
“I receive the drug as an infusion once a week and, out of all the treatments I’ve been given over the past seven years, this one has come with the least side effects. I’m able to work, live an active lifestyle – for instance, I walk my dog, Jet, three miles every morning - and spend time with my wife, three children and four grandchildren, and one more is on the way.
“I think The Royal Marsden is terrific and all the staff, from the cleaners and caterers to the doctors and nurses, are extremely helpful and compassionate.”
Thx. What is the reason that trials don't try to reflect the timing in patient intake (infection plus average delta-time) before dosing?
ENTA - And other RSV inhibitors. IYO how well has challenged studies in RSV translate to actual practice when patients present closer to peak viral loads? Are there enough rsv challenge trials to form an opinion?
TM - Lexus to release their version of crossover EV in 2 weeks. This is a variant of the Subaru Solterra and BZ4X platform.
https://www.lexus.com/future/RZ
Ukraine energy myth - here is part of the genesis of the theory from an Ukrainian author. These folks need to talk to some folks that have actually done exploration work in the region. eg FX Energy.
https://hir.harvard.edu/ukraine-energy-reserves/
Zero if not negligible. Why would Putin care about Ukraine energy when there is more than enough within their own boundaries to supply all of EU? That's the principal problem with the theory. And the amount in Ukraine is laughable.
Ok so how much gas, gas-condensate, and oil did he specify in his opinion piece. How does that compare to what's available via pipeline from Israel?
Author obviously doesn't know anything about oil or gas resources, or the global distribution. WSJ really needs ownership that value facts.
IMRA - the odds of failure for early bioscience stories has always been high and there are now even more "pre" preclinical publicly traded via SPACs and PIPEs.
Today’s $IMRA setback made me curious so I checked:
— Adam Feuerstein ✡️ (@adamfeuerstein) April 5, 2022
There are 163 biotech/drug stocks on U.S. exchanges (NYSE, AMEX, Nasdaq) valued at $50M or lower, per a Finviz screen.
288 bio/drug stocks with market caps $100M or less.
AFMD - AFM13-cbNK (anti cd30 NK) one year later. ER yesterday and Innate Cell Summit (san diego) today revealed 100% ORR continues at rp2d. Plus deepening of response with 2nd cycle. MDACC paper accepted for plenary session at next week's AACR annual mtg. Only non big pharma bio chosen. Data cutoff for that was October 2021. Shall add interesting color to response and duration. Company discussion with payers suggest car-t level pricing if fda cleared.
If not lengthy, what's better and why? I remember back in grad sch days a game where we had to submit offshore bids when everybody was given the same data and financial models. If everybody followed the model, there would be a tie. Winner's curse.
An interesting article about the characteristics of some people that want to pursue careers in finance.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-03-23/why-finance-attracts-the-least-trustworthy-among-us
PLTR - Ferrari places 1st and 2nd in Bahrain grand prix. On the surface doesn't seem like a big deal. Then I looked at the time differences and who won prior races in 2021 2019. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton must be pissed.
https://www.palantir.com/newsroom/press-releases/palantir-technologies-extends-partnership-with-ferrari-to-bring-data-driven/
TM - author that wrote article below about 1st gen EV (same as Subaru's Solterra) finally had race track test drive last week and gave nice review today in email note. Pricing will be substantially below TSLA model Y but not sure what that means since there is a lot of room below ~$70K. Range will be around 250 miles. Have seen a few Rivian's in town - looks like a regular pickup but much cleaner looking lines and distinct headlights. VW's ID Buzz will be a big hit IMO despite rumored high price tag.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-29/toyota-rolling-out-new-electric-suv-for-world-s-top-car-markets
It could be the color. I haven't seen blue pylons before this particular video.
Nicely done. I didn't realize I had such influence. Apologies for not following up on private reply.
The policy would be blanket no video postings at all for ALL beta testers. You can't just show the good stuff and hide the bad stuff for marketing purposes.
Obviously not but impressive nonetheless. The version I experienced in FL was not beta and the drivers were very careful in following rules. It is probably best L2 driving assist out there and gets frequent updates.
TSLA - fires employee for posting video of FSD beta V10.10 stress test on streets of San Jose done on a weekend. Sound like he is part of the power train engineering team. Musk really need to look in the mirror about his FSD beta testing procedures (or algorithm) instead of firing employees-customers for things that require testing on public roads. Employee was purportedly fired for improper use of FSD. I experienced an entire week of FSD recently in FL and I did not notice any indicators (warning mssgs) that were violated in the video. So if anything or anyone is to be blamed, it would be the AI and sensors failing to recognize traffic pylons of the shape and size used in San Jose.
It took the Germans 10 years post Fukushima to hit 50%. Probably takes longer here since we don't have Norske Hydro as backstop.
It will be a combination of renewables, local storage, and national grid connections, including EVs in the future. New peaker plants are already uncompetitive in my region and will be completely (nationwide) uncompetitive within 10 years (excluding Alaska). One reason GE turbine has had a tough go.
https://assets.greentechmedia.com/assets/content/cache/made/assets/content/cache/remote/https_assets.greentechmedia.com/content/about/utility-scale_solar_competitiveness_1654_1062_85.jpg
IMO is not that at all as Musk (and Biden) recently opined that oil majors need to ramp up to deal with shortages and energy transition. It is more the legacy energy lobbying companies spreading propaganda that renewables are unworkable and uneconomic and making it a political issue. The smaller independents and marginal well producers mostly got taken out to the back shed during the Aramco dumping during March 2020. Hess's time estimate seems reasonable if he uses that start of significant decline at prices greater than $50/bbl. It would peak much earlier if prices stay at current levels.
Sustainability needs to be in there. The limit of the thesis of every country gets a middle class with increasing living standards has always been access to cheap energy. I think the only modification to the thesis needed is the source of that cheap energy. Fossil fuels have obvious limits as we are experiencing. Cheap energy must be sustainable so renewables are the future. And the resources and technology to make the energy storage systems are critical paths. Fossil fuels are a storage medium for solar energy that is super inefficient to extract and use and should really be viewed as carbon storage for the way the planet works in terms of livability. There is also the conventional economic thinking that growth requires ever increasing populations. That's also unsustainable.
EV's would serve a duo role as mobile charger and storage for home use as the last part of article discussed.
PLTR - Ukraine invasion COO on Morgan Stanley Q&A webcast mentioned tank defensive movements/placements as software app being used in answer to gov contracts discussion. Only a small part of the biz but interesting nevertheless.
Yes. There was definitely some chemical taste to it. I was guessing some sort of surfactant similar to inadvertently getting soap in mouth.
BYND - finally tried it after sitting on the fence. Tasted soapy to me. Texture was fine. Prefer ground turkey or the real stuff. I need to find some AQB salmon to try.
IMO ASML et al (frontend equipment) are the real options for Taiwan invasion. Speaking of invasion, look at the effect on LUKOY. That's shock and awe in a different dimension.
PLTR - Annual letter is more of a corporate philosophy/mission statement, released a few days ago prior to ER. Commercial revs continues growing faster than gov revs as expected.
https://www.palantir.com/2022-annual-letter/letter-en.pdf
ER
https://investors.palantir.com/news-details/2022/Palantir-Reports-Revenue-Growth-of-41-for-FY-2021-US-Commercial-Revenue-up-102-YY-in-FY-2021
Most likely not enough to do FSD under those conditions. Still I would want everything given the pricing. ie Radar, Lidar, Optical (including infrared wavelengths for night vision) and ultrasonic (for close distance objects during parking/exit).
TSLA - not aware of IP issue with using LIDAR (or RADAR). Can you be more specific and also amount of $ involved?