exwannabe and all,
Merry Christmas! As much as we all want to celebrate at this time of year the fact is that many are hurting and or experiencing a sense of loneliness and isolation by their curcumstances. That really hit me hard yesterday as we gathered at church yesterday to celebrate a promise fulfilled on the the road to the great hope realized. We said a prayer for those going through difficult situations before and after the celebration because some folks just aren't able to even get a glimpse of that better day during the worst of times without someone who can help raise their point of view beyond their immediate circumstances. I thought of a video I saw a while back of a cancer patient talking to her friend while she was on a chemo interveinous therapy. They were talking about how the patient lost her sense of taste except for grapefruit and that generated a good laugh. We all need friends like that.
UCLA, NIH, FDA and others all have been working with NWBO to some extent as partners and or critics on the road to the temporary hope which is the defeat of cancer in at least some patients. You are correct that these institutions don't help NWBO run their business but neither do they run the same risk of going out of business and or being taken over by others because of failure to produce an approval for a new treatment for GBM. UCLA has plans to work on an allogeneic preventative vaccine and has used variants of L in other research. So nothing new there but NWBO has improved L beyond what Dr. Linda Liau gave them and she seems pleased with those blinded results to date. I also believe that longer term data from NWBO's pseudoprogressor trial that they have not shared recently is strong. I would suggest that the evidence from that research is very strong, maybe strong enough to get regulators to "know" that it is unethical not to make DCVax-L available as soon as possible not only to low absolute lymphocyte count patients but pseudoprogressors and perhaps an educated guess that for many methylated patients as well. Maybe results for some patients at least will be so strong that doctors and patients will demand access immediately once unblinded results are published because safety is not an issue. Maybe so strong that getting the price down and more patients able to be treated through closed system automation might be a priority for everyone involved. Will Dr. Linda Liau go on the offensive with Dr. Ashkan, Dr. Al Musella and others to put her MBA to good use for patients so that reimbursement from insurers would become a hot topic once validation of L is achieved in whatever form the final SAP takes? What might the time frame be from potential validation to realistic availability for patients and would any delay create problems for regulators, insurers and NWBO? Is Merck interested? These questions need to be considered before validation might occur and the answers to those questions must remain quiet during the process of validation that leaves management vulnerable to attack.
You are correct that ethical treatment of shareholders is not the responsibility of the auxiliary institutions mentioned. Then again, each investor must do their own due diligence and if investors did not understand the commitment to finishing this trial with Linda in control by using all legal and non criminal means available, then they did not read the disclaimers very well or understand Linda very well. Biotechnology is the Wild West of investing and warnings have been given by many on this board and elsewhere about potential outcomes. NWBO has said that they have been a company under attack. Investing in a company under attack or any otherwise easily manipulated stock runs greater risk than investing in one that is not in that situation. I think there have been sufficient warnings about this from both bulls and bears.
You are correct that the fact that NWBO has ongoing relationships with the parties mentioned is no sure sign that NWBO is a safe investment. On the other hand, what these affiliated parties have done and said is much more than what the average biotech company would get in the way of positive feedback. That is something I think you will concede to agree with me on. Again Merry Christmas to you and all and may 2020 be the year of the breakthough in cancer treatment that we all hope for no matter where it comes from. Best wishes.
