RE:RE:Extra!!! Extra!!! Read All About It!!!Hi TOINV,
Thanks for your thoughtful posts as of late. My comment regarding the math on the effect of non-participant "participants" in the final analysis was not looking for a hard answer, just a general comment as to the fact that non-participating "participants" will generally skew outcomes. If I'm not mistaken, in our case with with the general trend towards positive efficacy, non-participant particpant data would tend to have a negative effect on the final data set as far as reaching a stated endpoint. Further to this, at the 2013 AGM, I was told in conversation with RVX execs afterwords that RVX-208 may work OK with atorvistatin (Lipitor), perhaps not to the same degree as with rosouvistatin (Crestor), and that non-compliance in the Lipitor subpopulation had negatively impacted the results. This of course is all just heresay, without naming the source and without the company stating this. The fact that statisticaly significanct reduction in TAV can not occur without reduction in PAV would support this and also support that the drug is working. Of course I, like everyone else, am very pleased that MACE is now the targeted endpoint. With respect to MACE, I was told in my discussions that RVX was told by a major US payor that if Resverlogix was able to bring to the market a drug that could achieve the thus far stated MACE results that this payor would make the drug a manditory drug for it's insured parties who were in the target patient population. Interestingly, I was obviously told this before the introduction of diabetes mellitus as an inclusion criteria. I think that the diabetes angle is purely just a faster, cheaper route to an approvable drug and that RVX-208 for the treatment of a broader cardiovascular patient population is in no way off the table, just put to the side for now. That being said, as we all know, the patient population with DM is in and of itself a huge market.
I read with interest your four points of weakness with RVX. I would agree with them all but I would conclude that the reason for these failures is that there is no impetus for achievement in these areas when as long as Ken Dart and NGN are paying, reasonable, supporters management unfortunately must feel that the interim share price is incosequential and that the end value of Resverlogix, should ph 3 succeed, will be unaffected. I think Ken Dart has been more than fair in his support of RVX but I also think he has done a masterful job of protecting his downside should RVX not succeed.
Someone said something to the affect that if RVX had the real goods that we would already be partnered up with a major pharma. I would counter that pharma probably is very interested on the basis of MACE numbers but with the support of Ken Dart and NGN management is in no hurry to partner up under what would probably be very punitive terms. Don has said that they have been talking to pharma on an ongoing basis and has alluded that pharma has indicated what they would like to see in a phase 3. I'm sure Don would rather be shopping around successful ph3 results than be tied to a punitive deal. Frustrating as managements glaring shortcomings are, I agree with this philosophy.
I think I've rambled on enough.....