Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (IOVA)

[GMH*]

I really do not worry about IP for IOVA. For small molecule drugs, the FDA only requires equivalency testing to then approve a generic so you do get a significant patent cliff. For biologics, it is much more difficult (and costly) to do an equivalency test so I do not see any generic coming into this space.

Regarding the stealing of IP, that is certainly possible, but IOVA would have recourse but would still require a significant investment to create the TIL product and would then require running trials and FDA approval so would be a multi-year theft operation. I feel most competitors want to build a better mousetrap, not copy the existing one, so that is the risk for me. Informal discussions at these biotech conferences where someone lets slip a detail where something worked or didn't work is probably the biggest risk, but not disclosing the entire process.