Tim thank you for a very thoughtful article once again. One question that remains for me is that if the safety switch turns out not being required for a Tcell addback procedure that Bellicum adapted (not pioneered), what stops a different group from simply adapting it. It’s important to underscore that other groups added purified Tcell in small doses post haplo SCTs with pretty good safety reported. I will post a link if you are interested. Maybe in vitro manipulation is the “secret sauce” and the iCasp9 suicide switch will prove to be unnecessary for this type of HSCT. In that case Bellicum has a very weak IP to protect their special Tcell addback. Again for other indications such as CAR-Ts the safety switch maybe crucial. I still think Bellicum will prove to be one of the leaders in cellular immuno oncology and controlling cell survival and activity is an absolute requirement for celluar therapy. I am just becoming less excited about BPX-501. Thank you for a great assay and I am very interested in hearing your thoughts.
Bellicum: Data From ASH 2015, Orphan Disease Focus & Sizing the BPX-501 Market
Timothy Sullivan
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