Did NWBO overstep with their summer PR?
Was AF right for calling them out?
Were they or were they not punished for it?
Have they or have they not done it again?
My answers:
Yes
Yes, though he was harsh.
Yes
Maybe
It doesn't mean that the company didn't see what they reported. Could there be a little snake oil in their approach? Absolutely; and that's for each of us to determine whether or not, and just how much. We all know small biotechs without financial backing are vulernable, their stocks are volatile. Only way to fund their trials, and get to endpoints is through the use of their PRs and bring interest to their company stock. Any good news to share, they share it. All biotechs do it. It is a reality of our markets. AF proported they went to far with their PR. He punished them for it. And so, in my view, we can all stop now.
What are we even talking about here? A small biotech that is trying to survive in a capital market world which exist money-hungry short-loving vultures. Between trial endpoints, our markets exist on the movement of the stock price; if it goes to high, let's bring it down and make money. If it goes to low, let's ride it up to make some more. And in my opinion all these games hurt our clinical trial system. If it were up to me, and it unfortunately is not, shorting of small biotechs would be forbidden. We would never hear of these stories of smoke and mirrors. We would never be questioning company' morals. Everything would be open and honest, as survival instincts would be about patients and not companies. And, I imagine we would not have the AF's of the world writing sensational articles that could actually hurt companies that have something good to bring to market. So how do we intepret the old Direct PR event if hindsight were 20/20? I can tell you one thing, and that is that it doesn't mean their technology doesn't work.
So, where are we today? In limbo, waiting. Pyrr is concerned that Direct won't show ORR. Many of us believe, myself included, that he is judging the book before they even open the cover. He sees it differently. He sees that they supplied us no evidence of ORR. And he is willing to eat his hat in from of me if he's wrong. And I am willing to watch him.
Let's move on people - nothing here to see but a man who feels morally obligated to tell you that he can not endorse Direct yet. He needs to see more in their Ph II. BUT, that doesn't mean he is not long the company or the company's technology. He is just hedging so that he doesn't have to worry in case he, with his one-man opinion, is right about the direction of the stock price. He also has not changed his view on DCVax-L. He hasn't told anyone to sell. He hasn't told anyone to short. He just told you his trade. End of story.
All the longs here, believe DCVax technology work. Some believe DCVax-L is the prize. Others believe Direct is the prize. And a few, like me, believe that both will turn out to be prizes. And all of us are here because we want the company to succeed. Go DCVax!
