Replies to post #23988 on Biotech Values

[terry hallinan]

BSR_David - Oncology Biomarker Qualification Initiative (OBQI),

I think this is an incredibly important initiative.

We are in total agreement on that.

What we may not be in such total agreement on :-) is that the initiative is extremely late starting and not a little fraught with the likelihood of further delay and bureaucratic wrangling. The result of the artistry may be a piece of work more like a Picasso than a Renoir.

OBQI will also move the focus in cancer treatment to early detection. This will drive a dramatic shift in the kinds of drugs under development, placing a premium on drugs with very low side effects on an absolute basis (i.e. as in not just low compared to chemotherapy).

Glorious thought, of course.

I hope you will understand that I will wait to see this miracle take place but I fear I will not live that long.

Best, Terry

[jellybean]

<<<<If biotech companies expect to continue to receive the big dollars for their drugs, they will have to be able to prove they are working as expected almost immediately after they are dosed. >>>>

And isn't that how it should be? What always strikes me about clinical trial results is the number of patients who have no benefit from the therapy. There needs to be more methods for correlating cancer types with chemotherapies instead of the use it until the disease progresses approach.