1. Read between the lines
    Mike Lock Mike Lock Australia says:
    June 23, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    Although on first glance this looks like good news, the article mentions that only 1 patient has shown a response. Given that this trial is not double blind/placebo, this could be due to any number of factors that are not caused by the therapy.

    Hopefully they'll see more responses in the next group of patients but 1 out of 6 patients is not very exciting. Also can I say that I think the title of this headline is a little misleading? Rather than "positive response in patients" it should read "positive result in a patient"!

    Reply
    • Very vague on details
      R. McInntyre R. McInntyre Australia says:
      June 24, 2011 at 3:18 AM

      I agree with mike Lock's comment; how is a 1 in 6 (17%) response a good result? That means 83% of patients did NOT see any positive change.

      Also how was this 'positive' response measured? In many clinical trials the company that sponsors the study chooses trial endpoints that measure a change in blood test result. However, such an endpoint does nott necessarily indicate a meaningful clinical improvement for a patient. For example, imagine a drug that lowers cholesterol to reduce the rate of heart attack. The trial might show a drop in blood cholesterol, but if patients still have the same rate of heart attacks then the drug is useless. In IST's study it is unclear what was measured and whether it is clinically meaningful.

      Finally, what happened in the placebo group (I assume there was one?) Did 17% of them also have a positive result?

      As a biomedical investor, this press release smells a bit fishy to me...

      Reply
The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
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