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Democritus_of_Abdera

09/12/06 8:24 PM

#387 RE: aslan2772 #386

Aslan, you asked what others think, i.e.

<I would be surprised if it takes long before SRDX gets its first licensing agreement, but I would also be interested in hearing what others think. BTW, I don't think there is good economic incentive for Genetech to pursue sustained release until IVT-injected Lucentis market share is threatened.>

I share the view you articulated earlier concerning I-vation/steroid treatment being a good adjuvant in combination with other therapies... I also agree that an economic incentive, such as a threat to Lucentis market share, would accelerate innovations that might use the I-vation platform/steroid in combination with Lucentis. But I don't see this threat on the horizon; it may be that I-vation/steroid combination therapy with another agent (such a the VEGF Trap) might come first.

Personally, I do not have great expectations regarding siRNA strategies for AMD... This bias, and it is a bias not a strong negative feeling, comes from my experience with siRNA in cell cultures (i.e. I have been able to reduce message levels, but usually only to about 50-70% of the pre-treatment levels)... I worry that greater effectiveness will be required in an in vivo situation. However, data will trump my intuition every time.

I also worry that other companies will be able to match an I-vation/steroid strategy with another steroid and another implant; there does not appear to be a strong barrier to entry for this paradigm. I think that SRDX has one big advantage, however, and that is brand name and experience. This advantage will be important if they can partner with a company that does not want to develop implant strategies in house.
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DewDiligence

09/13/06 3:34 AM

#391 RE: aslan2772 #386

If the ophthalmic community deems that Lucentis/Avastin monotherapy is not the answer, then I think the implant paradigm has considerable potential. What I do not think we are likely to see is a standard of care that involves two different injected drugs taken in sequence.

A corollary is that the makers of VEGF-Trap, Sirna-027, and the other AMD drug candidates have to aim high, hoping to supplant Lucentis/Avastin as a monotherapy in a substantial fraction of patients. If these companies find that this goal is unrealistic, then they should pack it in.

This already happened with the ALNY/MRK AMD program and probably with several other early-stage AMD programs that were below investors’ radar screens.