TOCA
Ok - the bear case:
a) This was 6 CRs in a subgroup of the resection subgroup of phase 1 (which was, in total, 127 patients). And parts of that subgroup look *very* post hoc (e.g. no prior Avastin in rAA or rGBM). All told, based upon nothing more than that I would suggest that the ph3 results won't look anywhere near as good as the 20% they are claiming.
b) Survival after glioblastoma surgery is a significant function of how much tumor can be removed, and part of the subgroup is about tumor size - i.e. a very good surgeon and associated team can probably significantly boost survival.
b) The OS of the high dose vs low dose populations of this same subgroup are not particularly compelling.
c) They are silent on the other subgroups of the ph 1. Any PRs? My guess is not, or they would have said so.
My guess is that, as with many drugs, it works but works only weakly and/or in a subgroup that is difficult to find.
