Biotech Values

[urche]

"bad week for stroke drugs"

Presumably you are referring also to Paion/Forest's other setback this week with desmetoplase:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061025/nyw079.html?.v=72

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX - News) and its development partner for desmoteplase, PAION AG (Aachen, Germany), today announced that the Steering Committee of the Phase IIB/III stroke study, DIAS-2, has decided in agreement with the Companies to place patient recruitment temporarily on hold until further data have been analyzed. The DIAS-2 study is evaluating PAION's drug candidate desmoteplase in patients with acute ischemic stroke.


The Steering Committee followed a recommendation by the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC). The DMC had requested additional data in order to facilitate the evaluation of a potential safety signal, which was not specified further by the DMC. The DMC had notified the Steering Committee in its statement that no conclusion on the safety or efficacy of desmoteplase should be drawn based upon this recommendation. The requested data has been processed and will be provided to the DMC within the next day.

I suppose this could be a harbinger of ominous news, but at this point we can only guess.

I wish I had had the trust in my gut to short RNVS.

urche