NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[longfellow95]

Thanks, Lykiri.
The issue of debate with Flip (at least I think), was whether or not the NWBO facilities at Sawston were being kitted out way beyond what was required for initial operation to service the level of demand from UK Specials. And that if that was indeed the case, it might be a precursor to Advent being subsequently sold off, perhaps in a management buyout with the financial benefit going largely to LP/Toucan, rather than accruing to NWBO and its shareholders.
In other words; deja vu of Cognate.

But I don't think anyone would dispute that getting Sawston up and running in the first place would be a good thing, if only to service the level of demand from UK Specials (maybe 5-10 patients a month), and at least get some revenue coming in.
And to do that you have to equip cleanrooms to match that level of demand.

If (and it's a huge if) NWBO had reason to believe they were only a year away from gaining marketing approval from the MHRA in the UK for L, then they would need to at least be beginning a scaling-up process to meet the anticipated demand resulting from that approval.
And surely that would be a good thing...

It's basically a 'proof of the pudding is in the eating' scenario.
We won't know until way down the line whether the operational expansion at Sawston is too much, too fast (so that Advent reaps the benefit), or too slow, so that come UK/European approval they fall drastically short on production capacity.
Or some sort of middle ground whereby they incrementally expand, first to match demand from the current UK Specials patients, but also with an eye to much greater expansion to meet post-approval demand. Which is where I believe they are at.

At this point in time, Sawston remains unlicensed, so cannot be brought out of mothballs. That has to come first.
I somewhat doubt that they already have 21 employees in post.
What would they do with them all, and where would be their workbase?
But the fact that they are recruiting is clear enough.
Which is why I think that licensing of Sawston must be fairly imminent.
If they recruit in Cambridgeshire, those staff won't want to commute to London every day for very long, and I doubt if the leased labs at CCGTT are anywhere near big enough to accommodate 20+ staff.
And if they recruited in London would those newly recruited staff then be happy to commute or re-locate to Sawston when it becomes operational?

I'm sure I did see a previous reference to the acreage being partially on Greenbelt, but I doubt I could find it again.
This Google Maps link shows the junction off the A1301, which may be of interest.
Turn to the left, over the railway crossing for the Vision Centre and the Huawei site. Turn to the right for the road into Sawston Village. The 17 acres are behind the screen of trees on the right just beyond the turning for Sawston village. It's not a particularly good location to link with the Vision Centre, because you have to cross a short section of dual carriageway and then a railway crossing to 'commute' between the two.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.1241105,0.1544141,3a,63.5y,350.97h,90.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAS800l-RHB-QrOHHu_ndWg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Yes, I know that NWBO Sawston is quoted at about 80,000 sq ft.
Just about the same as Cognate, Memphis. But even if they equipped three suites at Sawston (which is a tall order with current resources) that would amount to 6000 sq ft, so that would be equipping only 7 or 8% of available space.
Whereas I'm assuming that most or all of Memphis is already fully kitted out and in use.

So kitting out 3 cleanrooms at Sawston would come nowhere near matching the Memphis capacity, as I believe Flip asserted.

Who knows ultimately whether this expansion will benefit Advent/LP/Toucan, more than it does NWBO and its shareholders?
But I don't think the evidence is there to be asserting now that that is the case, which I believe is what Flip is suggesting.
NWBO need this access to production capacity, otherwise UK/European approval will not lead to scaled-up patient treatment, and so will not result in a meaningful revenue stream.

Surely that's the whole point of the exercise. Get L going, use the revenue to get Direct moving again.

Regards.