I try to cover my beats with a neutral eye, but it’s hard not to root for Northwest Biotherapeutics in Bothell. This company has cheated financial death numerous times, defying repeated predictions (see stories here, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/02/7/30/15713054.CFM; and here, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/02/10/10/15928414.CFM; and here, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/03/10/4/17563231.cfm; and here, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/4/17/18491510.cfm) over the past four years that the company would close its doors.
Granted, the company — which moved at the start of the year from south Snohomish County to the King County side of Bothell — is a shell of its former self. A handful of employees remain, and it’s still cash-strapped.
But the company may also have a winner of a drug in DCVax-Brain, which could dramatically lengthen the lives of brain cancer patients.
At present, the only two FDA-approved treatments for gliobastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer, usually extend a patient’s life by about two months. As of this week, six of 10 patients from the phase 1 testing of the drug are still alive; five of thoe six are cancer-free, and one person in that trial has now survived more than 3 1/2 YEARS.
For more on how DCVax-Brain works, see this story from earlier this year: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/03/03/100bus_biotech2001.cfm.
Anyway, this week NW Bio announced it has a contract with Synteract of Carlsbad, Calif., which will manage a phase 2 clinical trial of the drug for the biotech firm. Here’s the raw press release announcing that, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060815/sftu024.html?.v=66.
It’s exciting news, as the drug’s success might finally help to lift NW Bio out of financial straits, or alternatively, it could attract a buyer for the company.
Investors are sharing the excitement. As I noted in the newspaper today, the stock has rocketed since Tuesday morning’s announcement. It closed Monday’s trading at just 15 cents a share. It closed today at 27 cents a share, for a 80 percent increase in the past three days. Yes, it’s still a horribly small stock price, but at least it’s finally going up.
The company also announced today that the company’s president, Alton Boynton, will present data about the company’s efforts to target the CXCR4 gene, which is found in more than 75 percent of all cancers, including breast, ovarian, lung and colon cancers. Here’s that press release, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060817/sfth044.html?.v=66.
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