Folks, I don't expect the stock price to skyrocket on this news. The market is still in "show me the money" mode and is not giving bonus points for potential. But I see several positive developments here.
First, this release tells me they mean business and are going to try every trick in the book to get their products to market more quickly.
Second,it looks like PRLN has hired some smart lawyers who know they've got better things to do than sue or threaten everyone in sight, including the company's own shareholders. We can now see the wisdom of a decision that they made early on. This is from their Feb 25th news release:
The Paracelsian board also confirmed the retention of Sidley &
Austin as regulatory counsel for the company. Sidley & Austin is
one of the nation's top firms with particular expertise in the area of
food and drug law. Sidley & Austin also serves as General
Counsel for the National Nutritional Foods Association, a national
trade organization representing manufacturers and retailers of
natural products, including dietary supplements.
I imagine Sidley & Austin's expertise was necessary to take this step. Having the right people working for you can do wonders.
Third, notice the anticpated uses for their Andrographis products: for treating cancer, HIV, angiogenesis, Alzheimer's and hepatitis, and depression.. I could be wrong, but I don't ever remember seeing hepatitis mentioned as a possible disease that could be treated with Andrographis. The AndroCar compassionate use patients experienced anti-depressive effects as a side effect of AndroCar, though I'm not sure how much we should make of this since the sample size was very small. However, if PRLN does have an anti-depressant that has a side effect of inhibiting cancer, or an anticarcinogen with the side effect of being an anti-depressant, then the market is huge.
I am unclear on one thing. Perhaps you can help me on this one, Hank, since you probably know the most about this. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act does not allow companies to make claims that their supplements are "treatments" for diseases. Yet, the press release uses the words "treating" in refering to cancer, HIV, etc. It also says:
The ''Petition to Make Special'' is a procedure within the patent office that provides for quicker examination of applications related to AIDS treatments. Paracelsian expects that this will greatly decrease the examination period for its patent applications related to andrographolide, helping to make its potential medical benefits available to those in need more quickly.
Note the words "medical benefits".
Does this mean that PRLN may be able to market its products as drugs sooner than expected? Will they have to get FDA approval and will this take less time than going through Phase I - III testing? Or will they still have to market their products as dietary supplements first without being able to make any medical claims? How much time will this take off the process to get real drugs to market? Or am I just reading too much into this?
Robin
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