Dear David, I have thought long and hard about the question you asked me the other day and think clear communication from the company to its intended target is certainly an important issue. The question is, who was the intended target in the HU-211 release?
Let me ask another question too: who is it more important to attract now, stock market investors or a big biotech partner/investor? I think the company targeted the latter in its release (though the thread has assumed the former) and that would explain why there is a feeling of it being "unclear."
The release really seems structured to appeal to the second, more scientific audience. Consider three things:
1) The headline and the first paragraph are filled with scientific language (not as "sexy" to the average investor, as many have pointed out).
2) The entire rest of the text is couched inside of two Pharmos quotes that point toward the phase III study.
"These study results are promising and open the door to a Phase III study in the U.S. and Europe next year,'' said Dr. Haim Aviv ... [and] ''I am very excited that dexanabinol was beneficial to this initial group of patients and I look forward to confirming these findings in a Phase III trial,'' said Dr. Anat Biegon...
3) Headlines in-between convey the salient points about HU-211:
Dexanabinol Shown to be Safe and Well-Tolerated
Neurological Outcome Measures Established a Trend of Efficacy
Study Subjects Characteristic of Severe Head Trauma Patient
In my mind, this is not a release meant to boost the stock price this month. This release is meant as textual bait to catch a pharmaceutical partner for Phase III.
Over the long haul, isn't that a more important variable with respect to the eventual price range for the stock than a temporary bounce now because of the release?
Of course, I do think that promotion for HU-211 can take many forms, not all having to do with releases as big events unfold. Do you know if our agreement with Ruder Finn means it must be alert to chances to put the Pharmos name forward in areas outside the financial market?
Last week, for instance, I happened to notice that the Business Week online site has a requested feedback area for readers who have story ideas to suggest. Naturally I grabbed the chance and sent them info on PARS. My suggestion was to turn it into an interesting sidebar piece in one of these stories:
- life after severe brain trauma
- the skyrocketing cost of treatment for coma patients and the role of drugs that
could shorten the rehab process;
- mobile meds -- how emergency medical teams have improved (or still need to improve) the medications available to them at accident sites
- how the FDA is speeding up its approval procedures for drugs where no
alternative treatment is available;
- Who discovered that drug? How the out-sourcing of R&D by big pharmaceuticals has changed the biotech field
- recent advances in brain surgery
- investing in small biotechs. This last one needs a title like "The Trials and Tribulations of Young Biotechs," for the play on words for clinical trials and the reality for investors that the road to profits is a bumpy one. Here, as an investor, I think Pharmos has an edge: a number of drugs trying to gain blockbuster status in brain trauma treatment have blown up in trials because of bad side effects. Phase II trials for dexanabinol today clearly indicate that the safety profile for the drug is excellent.
-- the medical use of marijuana. Many folklore stories are told about the medical efficacy of marijuana -- New Scientist magazine in London has devoted a lot of space to the issue this year -- but Pharmos' dexanabinol is the first potential breakthrough to widespread use of a marijuana derivative in normal medical settings.
By happy coincidence, I have found out that PARS is actively pursuing the editorial desk at Business Week too, which two years ago gave national attention to dexanabinol. Perhaps we'll get that update soon.
If Ruder Finn is responsible for more than writing single releases in response to specific events like trial unblindings or quarterly eps, perhaps it will be spreading out the campaign net beyond Reuters to get news of dexanabinol before the general public...
--Ariella |
