Doc has soured on HE which is different.
HE was a nice dream, it really was.
But a lot like DCVax Prostate, it is an idea whose time has come and gone not because it is bad in principle but because of funding constraints.
With DCVax Prostate, NWBO could not afford to pursue it and now there's Direct which works better anyway.
With HE its mostly the Germans, who want to, as often say, price a near-cure for cancer as if it were a powerful treatment for baldness.
Times were different when HE was pursued and it provided a nice alternative to toxic financing and a way to keep retail shareholders tantalized through some tough times.
With Neil Woodford here, toxic financing is a thing of the past and retail shareholders no longer have to be appeased.
I'm sure if the Germans had offered a fair price, Ms. Powers would work with them but she probably knew it was less than 50%/505 that they would be reasonable.
But apparently they're trying to screw us and a bad deal with the Germans would have about the same financial impact as a lopsided 'partnership' with Big Pharma.
Because accepting a low price from Germany now would cram down prices from US insurers later, NWBO would be accepting the chance of revenue now for the guarantee of lower revenue later.
Actually it would be worse since NWBO would take the risk of building out manufacturing withotu guaranteed money, whereas Big Pharma cuts a check right away and offers additional milestone payments as you go along (in exchange for the lion's share of the profits later).
If Ms. Powers won't partner with Big Pharma why would she do it on worse terms with Germany?