RE:RE:RE:So are we on to the next big thing? From what I can see, the biotech oncology space is not all that different from many other industries in that proven success creates a slew of followers and a fad erupts around a certain type of approach. It starts in labs, then small players take it up and move it further down the POC and commercialization path, and then big pharma buys it up and moves it even further.
I think for our purposes the path of Immunotherapy and ADCs is illustrative. The whole immunotherapy area started with figuring out T-cells and then in 2001 PD-1 was discovered as important, then you had some of the first immunotherapies in 2011, then more and more. Same for ADCs, first came the idea, then the targets, then all the different ADCs we see and suddenly it's a crowded field and everyone's trying to find the next target, drug, and cancer to go after. Investors flock and shares are bid up on hope. But both of these took years before they became mainstream and had enough successes that investors looked for the next big thing.
Let's not forget, both using a peptide conjugate to treat a tumor is fairly new, has had a few setbacks we know of, and isn't yet mainstream. There are a few firms chasing it -THTX, Bicycle, Oncopeptides and that one in Japan. I'm sure there are others, but I have not seen big pharma jump in yet. Second, Sortilin as a target is very new and the realm of just 2 groups this far -THTX and the Gothenburg folks. To be fair, scientists in the lab figured it out as a target over the last 8-10 years and represent umerous different cancer research groups globally. We see the papers from the ones in US, Europe, China and even Iran. So there's loads of scientific validity to Sortilin as highly prospective solid tumor target in advanced cancers.
As POC and efficacy start to show with more PDCs and Sortilin targets, it certainly will get recognized but not many will take notice until they hit milestones. But you can be assured that if they do, we won't be worrying about recognition. The investment case will be too compelling and it wouldn't surprise me if in 10 years you see plenty more PDCs out there and others talking about Sortilin. By then, the pioneers in the area will be much, much bigger and have a far better understanding of the science and will be moving even further down the development road. Partnerships will be the first thing to pursue once you have POC and we have to believe THTX will be a go to with the platform and peptide. But for now, we are literally in those early stages where the industry and investors see it, but needs to see a lot more before believing it is a viable future approach.
in that sense, we are the investment pioneers in supporting Sortilin as a valuable target for refractory solid tumors and for using a peptide to effectively get the most drug in to the tumor with the least side effects. Some day, I hope we can all feel very good about that and we will have earned a bit of good karma in the world for all the angst we've been through. But let's not count our chickens before their hatched!
Bucknelly21 wrote:
I am curious on you opinion as to why you see some companies be in pre clinical and get bought for billions before Thtx who can't even get a decent analysis of the platform or company
Wino115 wrote: Not at all. This is all about TH1902 suceeding, getting that high dosage, moving in to the rest of the Phase 1. We're talking about the other things you could do AFTER they get TH1902 further down the road toward commercialization and cranking in the revenues. I'm sure that will take all they can muster at this point if we see it move fast.
THe science team here has made mention they've heard little "clues" PL or Marsolais drop that make it sound like they are already playing around with the next ideas for the peptide. Maybe it's the rubicin version, the SN-38 version, some combo, or a TKI for hematological cancers. If you have a platform, you should have guys in the lab playing around with everything those brilliant minds can come up with! It's cheap experimenting and you may see something amazing or useless. We're speculating around that kind of stuff, not moving on to something else. We still need to see POC and efficacy afterall.
Bucknelly21 wrote: Are we moving on to the best thing that thera is going to look for? Sounds like some are getting over cancer already lol