Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

ACHN:

Any thoughts on the clinical investigator's comments about ribavirin likely being able to be dosed QD? I think that's a pretty big deal if that is proven to be true and makes QD dosing for an HCV PI a very favorable attribute and likely a much bigger advantage over BID dosing than I previously envisioned.

I thought that section of the CC was mostly spin. Dr. Dietrich’s comments about ribavirin’s long half-life and possible qD dosing do not ring true, IMO; ribavirin is dosed BID because splitting the cumulative daily dose into halves reduces side effects compared to taking the entire daily amount at once.

All told, despite his credentials as a clinician, I thought Dietrich came across on the ACHN CC as a shill rather than an objective observer. I’d like to know how much ACHN paid Dietrich for participating on the CC and why ACHN thought they needed to have Dietrich’s endorsement rather than simply letting the data do the talking.