Biotech Values

[AlpineBV_Miller]

It's not just bravado - it's lack of frankness. Visit their site and see if you can see any discussion of liver toxicity. It might be there someplace, but it's sure not obvious.

This is pretty much BS.

First, there is no liver issue. The SUSTAIN trial confirmed what management thought - which was the liver ALT elevations were transient and would end. SUSTAIN showed they go back to zero and there was never any bilirubin impact.

Second, if you can't find liver info for RVX-208 you just aren't trying very hard. The ASSURE publication is available free online. Transcripts from the company's November 2010 conference call are available to those who have that service. It is mentioned in their SEDAR regulatory filings.

Third, the whole point of the SUSTAIN trial was to further explore the liver side effects in terms of longer dosing. To truthfully claim management is ignoring or hiding the liver signal would mean having your head in the sand about an entire 176-patient randomized trial. Hell, even the first paragraph of the SUSTAIN press release notes there were elevated liver enzymes in prior trials.

So. We've got a published paper (referenced on the web site). We've got regulatory filings mentioning the side effect. We've got a 179-patient clinical trial created for the sole purpose of further investigating the liver signal.

If they are trying to "hide" this side effect, they sure are doing a crappy job.

P.S.: Here's a research tip: If you're looking for something on a website and are frustrated that it took you more than 90 seconds to find it, instead of blaming the company for "hiding" something go to Google.

Type in "[searchterm] site:[companywebsite.com]" and then take a look at what comes up.