Biotech Values

[terry hallinan]

DSCO - The pump that failed.

You can't get a surer thing than Discovery Laboratories despite the horrible inability to find a decent name. Or can you?

If DSCO finally converts its approvable letter into approval next year, its targeted infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS) could be just the beginning of treatments for huge markets but additional development will be required.

Perchance some inconvenience in preparing the synthetic surfactant besides the marketing muscle of behemoths with their minced animal lungs may not make the route to domestic market success for a home-grown sales force quite as easy it appears on the surface.

"Why didn't JNJ develop their IP themselves instead of licensing it to DSCO?" my wife asked at the annual meeting years ago. She is always doing that to me. That's the way wives are as any married man can tell you.

I don't really know why. I can speculate, e.g., why not let some former executives and any suckers they can get to take the risk while JNJ collects the gravy and maybe later the company. But we don't allow such speculation on this board do we?

"Great management," I told my wife. "They got great stuff from from the dumbo and will have huge markets to themselves soon."

"Do I get a new kitchen soon?" she responded.

"Soon" has turned into years.

The testing went swell. Really swell. Not so the NDA. I suppose most everyone knows about the "manufacturing" problem that included the FDA worrying about the size of the label on the bottle.

I got to tell you visions of black helicopters have occasionally danced before me. Perhaps just my overactive imagination.

Undoubtedly management wasn't too bright when they announced they had submitted volumes for a complete response to the FDA's approvable letter. I got a sudden attack of respiratory distress syndrome and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) won't be available for awhile, if ever. This ex-bureaucrat remembered not being fond of having volumes delivered with a forklift. "Fatheaded" instead of "not too bright" is a more apt description of that management tactic I think. I began to spy a problem beyond those imagined black helicopters.

Management was very bright in other ways. Those hidden collars on their stock that allowed a kind of sale on excellent pivotal trial results without notifying shareholders were a lot more intelligent than this idiot's hold.

The future is still on the way.

I think.

Management has some smarts that is not always appreciated by everyone.

Especially my wife.

Best, Terry