Ann: Change of Director's Interest Notice, page-33

Could the timing of Trevor Scott's share sale coincide with the forthcoming earnings announcements such as the 4C due at the end of July and the half-yearly report near the end of August? That would give Mr Scott ~6 weeks before the 4C which is more than the minimum traditionally required for a blackout period (assuming 1 month duration).

I suppose we might see an announcement regarding ROW also, but not till the middle of July at the earliest.

Just separately, I don't much like this development that Acadia is pursuing with their ACP-101 drug for PWS. This act makes it clear they are a direct competitor to Neuren, which I'm not too concerned about because Neuren holds most of the cards. Initially I had questioned the validity of their strategy to take a failed drug and pursue PWS (the recent failure pursuing PD psychosis foremost in my mind), but the payoff for Acadia is definitely worth it if they paid a discount for the drug and spend X amount for a Phase 3 trial which could reap initial profits by beating Neuren to the post.

However, if ACP-101 only treats hyperphagia, then I would expect that should NNZ-2591 make it to market there would have to be a re-evaluation by payors as to which drug provides the most benefit for cost. NNZ-2591 is expected to elicit a more comprehensive efficacious response across the myriad of symptoms in PWS which will no doubt be more appealing to parents and caregivers (not to take away from the deleterious effects of hyperphagia which is serious indeed).

Acadia's move looks slightly desperate, fraught with risk, and ultimately could be knocked down a peg if NNZ-2591 proves a more compelling alternative. In my view, its better if Acadia goes to the market and seeks $12 billion or so for a takeover of Neuren.