Targeted failure of the week. Post No 142. Neratinib

Puma Biotechnology Inc. (NYSE:PBYI) fell $6.08 to $80.86 on Tuesday after reporting detailed efficacy and safety data for neratinib (PB272) from the adaptive Phase II I-SPY 2 trial evaluating neoadjuvant breast cancer therapies. Tuesday's move brings to $25.55 (24%) Puma's loss since reporting the data, which translates to a two-day loss in market cap of $770 million for a $2.4 billion valuation.

At the American Association for Cancer Research meeting Puma said that in patients with HER2-positive/hormone receptor-negative breast cancer, oral neratinib plus paclitaxel followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide led to an estimated pathologic complete response (pCR) rate, the primary endpoint, of 55.6% vs. 32.6% for standard therapy consisting of paclitaxel plus Herceptin trastuzumab followed by chemotherapy. The most frequently observed severe adverse event was diarrhea, with grade 3/4 diarrhea in 39% of patients in the neratinib-treated arm vs. 4% in the control arm.

From here: http://www.biocentury.com/dailynews/clinical/2014-04-08/puma-slides-on-detailed-i-spy-2-data

 

Sad but true...

Fake?

Targeted failure of the week. Post No 141. PEGPH20

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) fell $3.16 (27%) to $8.43 on Friday after it stopped the Phase II Study 202 evaluating PEGPH20 in combination with Abraxane nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine to treat untreated pancreatic cancer on the recommendation of an independent DMC. Halozyme halted dosing and enrollment in the open-label trial as "precautionary actions" while the DMC evaluates a possible difference in the thromboembolic event rate between patients treated with PEGPH20 plus Abraxane and gemcitabine and patients treated with Abraxane and gemcitabine alone. Halozyme declined to disclose details, including how many patients have been enrolled in the trial. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, Study 202 is slated to enroll 132 patients.

Halozyme is developing PEGPH20 to improve the absorption and dispersion of IV drugs. The product is a pegylated form of Halozyme's recombinant human PH20 hyaluronidase (rHuPH20), which improves the delivery of subcutaneous drugs.

 

From here: http://www.biocentury.com/dailynews/clinical/2014-04-04/halozyme-slides-on-potential-pegph20-concerns

Masterpiece of the utilization of the situation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FkmlazmVnk

Masterpiece of the day.

Would you believe?

Fake?

Quote of the day regarding having (or not) a PhD

"Oh, yes. I’m very proud of not having a Ph.D. I think the Ph.D. system is an abomination. It was invented as a system for educating German professors in the 19th century, and it works well under those conditions. It’s good for a very small number of people who are going to spend their lives being professors. But it has become now a kind of union card that you have to have in order to have a job, whether it’s being a professor or other things, and it’s quite inappropriate for that. It forces people to waste years and years of their lives sort of pretending to do research for which they’re not at all well-suited. In the end, they have this piece of paper which says they’re qualified, but it really doesn’t mean anything."

 

 

 

 

 

From here:http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2014/04/01/freeman_dyson_on_the_phd_degree.php

The man-made disaster: THE DRUGGING OF THE AMERICAN BOY: By high school, nearly 20 percent will be diagnosed with ADHD

from: http://pharmagossip.blogspot.se/2014/03/by-ryan-dagostino-drugging-of-american.html