Replies to post #81119 on Biotech Values

[dewophile]

idix
"The most intriguing revelation from today’s CC, IMO, was that ribavirin can compete with a nucleoside analog during the first phosphorylation step, and hence eliminating this step in vivo can allow the nuke to perform better when given with ribavirin."

i didn't catch the cc - that is interesting


"I don’t think anything other than safety can be ascertained from 3-day monotherapy studies"

if efficacy can't be ascertained then how does this serve as a proof of concept?
i agree efficacy is difficult to determine in a 3 day study, and extrapolating before steady state may not be valid - but it did strike me that at approx 3 days (i eyeballed the valopicitabine curve from a presentation) 184 did about what the first generation achieved at the highest dose (again this may not be a fair comparison, but it's all we have to go on interms of efficacy at this point..)

[mcbio]

Re: IDIX conference call

The most intriguing revelation from today’s CC, IMO, was that ribavirin can compete with a nucleoside analog during the first phosphorylation step, and hence eliminating this step in vivo can allow the nuke to perform better when given with ribavirin.

What about the disclosure about the research program targeting NS5A? I have never heard IDIX disclose this program before so I assume this is a brand new revelation.

With respect to IDX-184, I think the news was very good so I'm surprised at the sell-off. As shown on one of the conference call slides, IDX-184 showed comparable efficacy to R7128 (the nuke leader in the clinic from VRUS) at 3 days' dosing. IDX-184 has the advantage of much more potency and thus being more amenable to co-formulation down the road. Also, as there were no significant side effects, IDIX will up the dose in the 14-day trial so there's the potential for even more efficacy. It doesn't seem accurate to compare efficacy across the HCV drug classes and just by looking within the nuke class, it appears that so far IDX-184 is one of the most efficacious nukes. So, again, this appears to be good news IMHO.

Dew, are you planning to add to your IDIX position given the price drop and the fact that we now have PoC?

[gym gravity]

How many HCV drugs have come through since the 3 day first trial rule?

I think the synergy with ribivarin will take a while for investors to interpret. They should send a poster dedicated to ribivarin synergy at EASL.