Flipper, is the leukapheresis more critical to the number of doses than the size of the tumor? If that's the case, what would prevent doing the leukapheresis more than once. I know that when they harvest stem cells from the blood, patients first get a drug that stimulates stem cell production, then a process like leukapheresis is done. I believe they'll do as much as 6 hours a day, but do occasionally require 2 or even 3 days. Of course donors do have the option of removing the stem cells from the marrow, it's more painful, but it doesn't take nearly as long.
I certainly don't know, but it would seem to me that some initial price be placed on initially making the vaccine that's greater than $30K, then $30K each time it's given seems very fair. I don't know how high the initial cost of making the vaccine should be, but I'd think something in the $50K to $100K range would seem fair. We do need to recognize that not all patients will live extensively longer, some patients might only receive a very few doses.
I'm a big believer in what Dr. Liau and the people at UCLA are doing, in time I believe she'll get 5 year survival to perhaps 70% or more, and I believe that DCVax-L will be part of the treatment regimens for all of them. When that occurs, perhaps the cost of DCVax-L can be further reduced, likewise if it's being used in many cancers, not just GBM. Honestly I believe that if NWBO wished, they could charge far more, the figures I've heard are significantly lower than prices for certain chemos which generally aren't nearly as effective and have negative side effects. I believe that cures do require more than DCVax-L, but hopefully combinations will be found that aren't nearly as negative as the side effects of certain chemos. Quality of life is certainly one of the biggest advantages of our vaccine. I have no idea the effects of Poly-ICLC, Keytruda, or other products that complement DCVax-L.
Gary
