Without a doubt, MRKR will be going forward with development of a product for pancreatic cancer. That was clear from the cc. Now if the data didn't support that, they would have buried it or PR'd it with a simple dismissive that there was not enough efficacy to proceed further with Multi-TAA in PC and they would focus on the cancers where it is clearly working. Listen to the Q&A and you can sense the optimism of the researchers and clinicians. Are they just trying to put lipstick on a pig? I don't think so and neither did AACR, that put them on the podium.
I'm virtually certain Multi-TAA is working in some hematological malignancy indications and I think there's a good chance (not yet 100%) that it's synergistic with chemo in pancreatic cancer. Lung cancer data has proven that chemotherapy can be synergistic with immunotherapy (anti-PD1). Chemo can enhance the TME in multiple ways (suppresses T-reg, MDSC, enhances MHC expression) and oxaliplatin specifically (in Folfirinox) can produce immunogenic cell death. These facts along with the in vivo product cell expansion, antigen/epitope spreading, and tumor infiltration of T-cells along with the low probability of CR with chemo alone, suggest the CR we saw with Folfirinox in arm A was not chance. Data in a few more patients may confirm that thesis.
The market has dismissed all this evidence and knocked this back down to the SP lows. No big surprise really. It happens in biotech after a run up, if the data does not far exceed expectations. The market focus is on dilution and time to the next "catalyst". This is the time where the momentum gamblers get squeezed out, but if you think Multi-TAA works in at least one cancer, it makes sense to own more shares.
