Let me be very clear on my position.
First, I am a long and have been for several years. I hold a considerable position, have averaged down and participated in the convertible offerings as an accredited investor. I have a lot of skin in the game and can afford it. I know both Linda and Les and have met them several times.
There are two basic considerations for my investment here: the product and management. Up to the release of the publication, I was seriously considering selling my entire position and investing what proceeds I recovered elsewhere. I was extremely unhappy with management and with little news wrt to the product, I lost considerable confidence there too. You don't need to ride the same horse in order to recoup your investment.
Where am I now? The publication, though delayed and in a relatively low impact journal, presents remarkable data. Even considering the blended results as though they were treatment, I am greatly encouraged. I think the 2018 spring refresh will present even better results on top of what is already truly remarkable data. I can understand why there are 69 authors. I am not going to debate the implications of the results because as far as I am concerned I am convinced since the data speaks for itself. IMHO, naysayers are in denial. To me, the question is no longer whether DC VAX L will be approved but rather when. This depends upon a number of factors not the least of which is when the trial is concluded and the approval path(s) decided and pursued. Plus, of course, the time which the various regulators take in order to reach an approval decision.
I am further convinced that there will be great demand by patients and physicians. There are at least 68 of them who, in addition to Dr. Ashkans, are clamouring for the vaccine. With the more recent revelations about the toxicity of CIs and hyper-progression, there is no doubt that big P around the world will come knocking if only in an attempt to salvage their products. It is inevitable that at least one of big P will break ranks whether in China, Japan, Europe or the US, etc., in an attempt to control the solid tumour market. I firmly believe with the data in hand that this vaccine represents a new paradigm in the treatment of disease.
Management is a completely different story. LP is to be commended for being a visionary and steadfastly keeping the company going throughout this never ending trial. However, besides her vision and steadfastness, is she a good CEO? No, I don't think so. She lacks charisma, the aura of leadership as well as clear communication skills. I can say candidly that LP is a rather poor presenter and while English is a second language to Dr. Bosch, he runs rings around Linda as a presenter. A number of her actions were/are controversial and her judgement questionable. From what I have seen and heard from my meetings with her, she is perhaps not the greatest negotiator.
The inexplicable silence and contradictions which I have laid out in previous posts and which I am not going to repeat here have caused considerable damage to the value of the company.
Les is Linda's pit bull but unfortunately he provides a disservice to her. He says many things but he almost never delivers. His negotiating style is to outshout his opposition and change the direction of the debate. He never responds to a direct question. He never makes the other side feel that he gained anything but rather comes away brow beaten and frustrated. The end result is that no one really wants to talk to him, although he is, as a positive point, available whereas Linda is mostly not. Alton Boynton has said of Les that he is a good man and he means well...I leave it to you to come to your own conclusions.
The ASCO presentation was a huge missed opportunity. And certainly served as a jab to the FDA in a none too subtle push for approval. Whereas before, NWBO management remained silent for fear that anything they said might upset and prejudice the FDA against them. However, is this really true? Not at all, IMHO. A fellow investor, concerned about the silence attending the hold, called the FDA and asked whether NWBO was embargoed from talking about the hold. The FDA responded by saying absolutely not and that it was up to NWBO, and they were free to do so, to provide information about the hold. It was not up to the FDA. Anyway, this whole thing is inexplicable.
And silence caused great damage. AF, a political science major, who obviously knows next to nothing about the science, ran rings around a Harvard law magna cum laude and US government trade negotiator and a former senior partner of a top tier Wall Street law firm. Made them afraid to take him on. Caused them to retreat when he spanked them. Needless to say, he caused great damage.
The constant references to malevolent forces conspiring against NWBO by Les and the 100s of millions of naked short shares that he alleged were served up in an attempt to divert attention from management's own shortcomings. If this is so well known by Les and Linda, WTF did they do about it? Hire Cofer Black and pay him a nice bonus for what? Where is the announcement of the lawsuit that Les said was going to be revealed before ASCO? Well, these "business matters" were thought to be better delayed so as not to distract from the ASCO presentation at the industry theatre. What happen to Les' promise that updated information was going to be revealed as well at the ASCO presentation? This was not even mentioned among the delayed announcements that Linda "hoped" would be made in the coming weeks.
What happened to the company investigation to be concluded in 60-90 days? We are over 900 days now.
String of PRs that will blow the shorts out of the water and raise the pps so that we can finance upon better terms? Where have we heard all that before? Contradictions, unmet deadlines, inexplicable silence, a stay tuned mantra, questionable judgement and what appeared as self dealing transactions, SEC investigations, etc., etc.--inept management certainly and significantly contributed to the devastation in company value. It is this ineptness that surely enabled the degree of the shorts' success.
There was another company with a break through product platform that survived poor management. This was Apple before Steve Jobs returned and rescued the company. His predecessors were the three stooges: John Scully, Mike Spindler and Gil Amelio. Similar to NWBO. Breakthrough product platform but with two stooges leading the company. My bet is that LP/LG's amateurish management will be largely offset by the inevitability of the new paradigm product platform. One can hope that history repeats itself.
Lest MB members believe that I am not with the NWBO program, allow me to chant the company slogan: stay tuned.
