Biotech Values

[AlpineBV_Miller]

Wouldn't the prednisone requirement with Abiraterone be problematic in combo with Provenge?

Oddly, no. There was never a requirement on the Provenge trials to stay off of pred.

I doubt abiraterone would be dosed in combo with Provenge, anyway. Frankly, I doubt ANYTHING will be dosed simultaneously with Provenge. Sequentially? Absolutely.

There isn't another cancer drug out there to my knowledge that has the 4-week, 3 dose and done profile. (OK, I suppose other immunotherapies, but there would be other issues with those being dose simultaneous.) I can't see anything worth fooling with in that short timeline that couldn't work as well just doing starting in week 5.

I think the big thing to figure out with Provenge, if approved, is what's the sequence. Most people assume Provenge then chemo, for example. But the best chemo/immuno data I've seen suggest it is better to give immuonablative chemo first to "reset" the immune system, and THEN give the immune training immuno drug.

If money was no object, I'd launch a company and roll up all the failed immuno IP of the type I thought I could manufacture reliably. Run them into trials where I give an induction dose of platinum therapy, wait a bit until I was sure the immmune side effects had bottomed, then start dosing the immuno.

I bet it would produce more winners than we've seen to this point. Aside from the polyantigen need-patient-tumor approaches (never work), I think we'e run a lot of trials that have failed the drug and not the other way around.

Sorry for the digression...