Replies to post #5579 on Entremed (ENMD)

[KAEPSKAG]

"I also wanted to say that when Folkman said that Panzem may work best in concert with other traditional medications, I think what he was really saying was that if you want to get the 2ME2 products approved, what you had better do is not threaten the industry."

It is clear to me that Folkman said what he meant and meant what he said: in other words, no SINGLE drug is likely to "cure" or control cancer due to the biological nature of cancer. Politics has nothing to do with it.
No doubt big money and the Pharmaceutical industry can be very influential in concert with lobbyists, but medical progress amongst physicians will prevail in the long run.
The problem is: 1)ENMD has been little money currently
( enough to last well into the second half of 2008 as per Burns); 2) it scientifically makes sense to combine 2ME2 with other currently used cancer drugs to achieve the best effects- and this takes lots of money.

[RRGY2K]

Paranoid postings...

Dr. Folkman has no personal financial interest in Panzem. He freely shares credit with other researchers. He's about as honest and sincere as it's possible for a Harvard doctor to be. There's no friggin way he's telling anybody anything he doesn't believe to be absolutely true.

The most important reason to test with currently approved therapies: It's unethical to offer a dying person a placebo, so you don't do traditional control group studies. Instead, you test a new drug in combo with with the current standard of care, and try to get approval by showing that your drug makes the current drug better. Then later you can do studies that show your drug has other or better ways to be used.

Sure, it takes a long time, but the FDA would much rather have 10000 dead Americans every week than have them out experimenting on their own with drugs the FDA is still ignorant about.