Replies to post #219768 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

ASMB—Obviously, if the true rate of decay ends up being several years, then that's a different story.

The problem, as I see it: The method ASMB used to estimate the half-life of cccDNA decay has such a wide confidence interval that it might actually take several years (if it can be done at all) for cccDNA to be eradicated once viral replication has been shut down.

It's good for humanity that somebody is testing to see if a short course of DAA treatment can cure HBV; however, I question whether this is an enterprising pursuit from an investment standpoint.

[DewDiligence]

GILD licenses gene-editing approach to HBV from (private) Precision Biosciences:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gilead-sciences-precision-biosciences-announce-123100236.html

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Precision will be primarily responsible for the development, formulation, and preclinical evaluation of the investigational nucleases, and Gilead will be responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of potential therapies. Gilead will fully fund the research and development. Precision is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to an aggregate of $445 million and tiered royalties that go up to the mid-teens for commercial products developed through the collaboration.

The intention is to edit cccDNA and thereby kill it off. It will probably take several years to know whether this idea will work.