<<So is NEOT's definition of a "drug development pipeline" too broad or mine too narrow?>>
Yours is good. NEOT's is somewhere beyond Pluto.
The answer is found on their own website, which you linked (thanks). AIT 297 is listed as "preclinical", but when one scans down to the description of what they have actually done on AIT 297, it sounds like they tested it in a few in vitro assays and then sent it off to PanLabs for cross-reactivity profiling (maybe). AIT 202 is even worse: they make it sound like a micromolar hit on one or more 5-HTs. (This is a drug?) So those molecules make their "Product Pipeline" chart on the website, and your contact at the company claims 90 other molecules count as "drugs" when they, apparently, are not even that "advanced".
This is all very silly. It is (unfortunately) not uncommon for your average discovery-stage biotech to list just about anything that pops up as a hit in a screen as a potential "drug" in the "pipeline". You must be careful of such companies -- once they name a compound, it is very difficult to kill it, lest that be viewed by the investment community as a major setback. In fact, it's a natural by-product of the drug discovery process, and the earlier one kills such molecules the better (allows one to spend valuable resources on better molecules).
For an example of a "pipeline" that is well-described but not oversold, go look at the Agouron site (who knows how much longer it will be up -- the Agouron signs are being replaced with Pfizer Global Research and Development signs, so the website could be next . . .). It hasn't changed much since before the Warner-Lambert buyout.
In my opinion, if a compound is not in Phase I, don't count it UNLESS the company has published (or given a detailed presentation at a respected scientific conference) full pharmacological details of its action in a relevant animal model, WITH pharmacokinetic results relevant to the anticipated dosing regimen. And even then only count it as half, unless they also publish something about safety and/or dose-tolerance over an extended period of time.
In addition, a colleague of mine once clued me in to how much a company really believes in their Phase II compounds: if the cohort is less than 20, it's a smokescreen. If it's 21-50, they're guessing at the indication. If it's 51+, they really believe.
Best of luck. |
