Sandman, you ask a reasonable question, but then put it in a context of an implied question of "I don't think these guys are doing much with all the people they have," or at least that's how I take your comment of, "...if I had a crew work 4000 hours I DAM SURE better show something for it." ADXS has plenty to show for the work they do and, IMHO, have been incredibly productive under Dan getting a lot of important work accomplished. Check slide 39 of their corporate presentation on their website for a listing of 15 recent/soon-to-be accomplishments.
So, what do people do all day you ask? Here's partial list:
- Trial design -- takes a lot of time to not only consider all the details required, but to coordinate with academic study leaders, trial sites, writing up the details of the design, the training requirements/ procedures. ADXS no doubt explores 2-3 trial possibilities, maybe more, for every one they initiate.
- Trial coordination -- huge time requirement to oversee trial execution to be sure enrollments are happening, questions answered, problems dealt with...
- Data analysis -- they are constantly examining trial results to a much, much greater degree of depth than we ever see.
- Paper writing -- it takes a lot of effort to write/ put together an academic paper for publication of results.
- Science analysis -- ADXS has to keep up with the wide range of science being done in academic and by competitors to be sure they understand the evolving landscape and how to take advantage/ avoid problems in their own science. They're also look for research relationships and such.
- Pre-clinical research design/ coordination -- I'm sure ADXS has any number of pre-clinical science efforts going. I don't know if they outsource all of this to academia/ contract labs or if they have their own pre-clinical facility, but in either case this requires significant time and effort.
- Market/ competitive analysis -- beyond science, one must organize/ manage data generated mostly by 3rd parties. Still, someone has to assess and integrate this information for decision making.
- FDA paperwork...don't get me started on how much of this they have to deal with!
- Partnership investigations/ negotiations -- DOC cannot do this all by himself. He has others involved in reaching out to a wide range of businesses around the world looking for opportunities to collaborate. Discussions take a lot of time and effort.
- Legal -- while ADXS may have outside counsel doing a lot of the detailed contract and patent writing, I'd bet they have a small staff of in-house lawyers to coordinate/ supervise this work.
- Manufacturing design and management.
- Finance/ HR, etc.
I'm sure I've missed a chunk or two, but ADXS has 7 MAJOR indication efforts underway and no doubt several more in earlier stages of consideration/ development that we don't know about.
My guess is people are working 60-70 hour weeks at ADXS to make that business a success.
Hope the above is helpful.
