Biotech Values

[mcbio]

Gulley is leading clinical trials of an experimental vaccine to treat prostate cancer that could be taken out of the freezer and injected into patients -- eliminating the hassles seen with Provenge. The National Cancer Institute developed the vaccine, called ProstVac, and licensed it to Danish biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic . NCI would be entitled to royalties on sales of the vaccine, which is slated to move into late-stage trials in coming weeks.

Gulley said ProstVac prolonged patient lives by eight months in mid-stage trials -- roughly twice the benefit seen in separate trials of Provenge and Zytiga. But he cautioned that ProstVac's true potential will not be known until its far-larger planned Phase III trials are completed. He said the vaccine, which coaxes immune system T-cells to attack a protein called Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) -- could prove to be a bigger drug than Provenge.

"Here's why: because it is off the shelf. There are no logistical constraints."

I missed this post from before and just came across the name Bavarian Nordic today. Seems kind of like an interesting little company. They have shares that trade on the Pink Sheets under 'BVNKF.PK'. Market cap is about ~$200M if Yahoo is anywhere near accurate. And here's a link to their Web site and pipeline: http://www.bavarian-nordic.com/pipeline.aspx . Does it add a degree of confidence to the drug's chances that the NCI itself apparently developed it?