HOPE helps me cope, but it's Conviction that floats my boat for MRKR :)
If we only had the AML Data to rely on I'd still be hopeful, but The Fact is the data shows MRKR's therapy is effective for multiple blood cancers - and (solid tumor) pancreatic.
So "Hope" turns to Conviction.
And beyond the data, my conviction is strengthened due to the low cost, ease of administration, the safety profile and lack of adverse effects on quality of life.
If anything, I wonder why Quality of Life was not considered as one of the End Points in the AML PII study. I know I've seen references to a noticeable improvement in QOL by patients in some of our studies - but I'd have to go back and dig into it to see if that was the case for AML.
And I think ultimately MRKR's therapy will be combined with other immune therapies, both non-cellular and cellular (e.g. with other relatively safe cell-based therapies like TIL therapies being developed with similar cost, administrative and safety profiles).
But the "opportunity costs" in the meantime does suck. As does the IR/PR, especially the past year.