12 IS a small sample. It doesn't matter how many more will be in the trial eventually, the number mentioned for these very encouraging preliminary results is a small sample.
Alzheimer's is a difficult disease to quantify because measures of cognitive function are open to interpretation. Some of the tests may measure something, but changes of cognition observed by caregivers who are very familiar with the patient's capabilities before and after the drug is administered are of more use (because quantified measures of cognition can be very deceptive, if they're not measuring the right thing).
So yes, the BEST data we have, the impressions of the caregivers, are in fact anecdotal. And we also have the problem of the "wishful thinking" bias aka the placebo effect. Desperate people are anxious for any sign of improvement in their loved ones. As great as these first results seem to be, we need results from MORE patients, when we have some idea of what the optimal dose is. That's why we have clinical trials.
I am extremely encouraged by the results. I have said for years that Alzheimer's drugs were going after the wrong target, and I invested in AVXL (yay!) and PRAN (sigh) because they were the only companies that seemed to be researching in OTHER directions.
I am bullish on this stock, I own a ton of shares, and frankly I am disgusted at the reactions of some of the posters on this site who become irate if someone doesn't either cheerlead the stock, or bash it, depending on what they'd like to read.
