Biotech Values

[mcbio]

Re: PYMX

Yes, I listened to call. Not much new that I didn't know already, other than their data looks very clean - remarkably little inter-patient variability. No hint in the data presented that the drug doesn't work exactly as one would want. Really my only caveats are that the drug has been in so few patients to date, and so far they've only shown reversal of doses of heparin lower than one would need for bypass surgery.

Do you have any concerns about the "warmth" and "itching" side effect of the drug? I know it was apparently mild and went away upon discontinuation of the infusion, but it sounds a little strange. I don't like that they have no idea what's causing the side effect. This has been a benign side effect so far, but who is to say it's not the sign of something more serious to come when the drug is tested in more patients? It's probably not but it just seems like a strange side effect.

Sounds to me like they will want to partner this with one of the LMWH companies - having an agent that can reverse a LMWH quickly would certainly help sales of that particular LMWH. No reason to believe their drug wouldn't work in all LMWHs if it works in any one of them (which still has to be established of course), but if all the trials are with a particular LMWH, doctors would certainly be more comfortable with that particular labeled combination. (It would undoubtedly get some off-label sales as well if doctors urgently needed to reverse one of the other drugs too).

Personally, if I ran one of the BD groups at any of the LMWH contenders, I'd be knocking hard on these guys' doors before my competitors woke up.

I would have preferred to have heard at least some comment about potential partners on the call. There was nothing at all. No comments about any sort of discussions with prospective partners or even more generally about expectations about talking with prospective partners. I will become a bit more interested when there is some discussion about partnering efforts. I think I will probably wait until they get some more data in humans as well. But, it's an interesting story and the stock has a tiny market cap.