NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[hyperopia]

meirluc, it’s not only the manufacturing capacity that will constrain the initial ramp up, but also the number of patients that the qualified medical centers can handle, and the entire personalized-medicine system itself. As we have seen from the commercialization of the first two CAR-T therapies, Kymriah and Yescarta, it takes time to obtain insurance reimbursement, to establish the treatment process and procedures, and to prepare and qualify the multitude of stakeholders at the medical centers that will treat patients. It’s been over two years since these CAR-T treatments were approved, and although neither company has disclosed exactly how many patients they’ve treated so far, (Gilead claims over one thousand) it’s believed to be less than two thousand combined.

In comparison to those treatments, DCVax is less complicated to manufacture, has long-term data for insurance reimbursement, is much safer and doesn’t require the extended hospitalization that the CAR-T treatments do, so in theory, it could be a faster ramp, but initially, (for the first year or two) I think it will be a slower roll-out than many here seem to believe.