now we know

At last we have some inkling of how effective BIT225 might be.

"Their cells demonstrated a statistically significant and up to a three-fold reduction in virus."

Michelle hasn't given us much info here. I would have expected a statement such as there was an X% plus or minus SEM reduction in monocyte viral load P>. The above statement can be interpreted in a few ways I guess but I'm taking it to mean that the BIT effect reduced monocyte viral load to 1/3 of control.

The other interesting and positive new piece of information to come from trial is the fact that BIT 225 can cross the blood/brain barrier and hence potentially treat the central nervous system aspects of HIV infection.

It's clear as one reads the report, how much more we need to learn about the best approach to BIT225 therapy. In particular, is there a trend in the data? Does the viral titre in monocytes decline with time of BIT225 treatment? Can we exepct to see a continuing effect over the next few months when followup samples are taken from the trial subjects as in the previous trial? What is the effect of dose?

Clearly, that will require ongoing studies. Overall, it's not a bad result but we need to know a lot more before we fully understand how best to employ BIT225 in a clinical context and that will require a lot more resources than Biotron have.

Will this data be enough to interest a large pharmaceutical partner? I don't know but I have the feeling if it doesn't happen soon, it won't happen.