> [...] different clinical protocols could rapidly obsolete the 9902b trial protocol and further improve upon 9901/9902a efficacy.
No kidding. It is not hard to imagine, that upon Provenge approval,
physicians would prefer the Avastin/Provenge combination rather
than one with taxotere chemotherapy, due to toxicity concerns.
That said, would Genentech necessarily be the driver of any associated
Phase 3 clinical trial, or would that depend upon DNA being involved
financially in a partnership agreement? I assume combination trials
are unnecessary where reimbursement is not an issue.