Hi TorpyThe competitive landscape between PAR and Novartis is...

Hi Torpy

The competitive landscape between PAR and Novartis is more akin to the problem of whether to back the jockey or the horse. For example, iPPS is a great product that will probably get approved at some point. Who knows what the share price will be at the time or market penetration since these are all dependent on other factors. LNA043, on the other hand, probably won't be as good of a product as iPPS, but as we all probably know Novartis is a juggernaut whose experience at getting products approved and to market is massively greater than it is for PAR.

Novartis are one of the few companies I know who can get approval for a treatment that failed it's clinical trial, so unless LNA043 fails in the same way as lorecivivint or others, then chances are Novartis will find a way to get it approved, whether before or after iPPS. Novartis are also very fierce competitors who i've followed closely, among others, and this could cause problems for PAR down the track, irregardless of our clinical trial results. PAR will need to be prepared for ways in which our competitors may potentially look to "block" product registration for iPPS for OA or to find a partner who can help overcome any expected challenges. Who we select as a partner is important since they may need to help us overcome any possible objections.

I guess my point was that there does not appear to be any sense of urgency from PAR and their focus seems to be all over the place. They were looking to raise more funds to advance the other programs, all of which will take some of the focus (and funds) away from OA. PR also has dual roles with two different companies. We are now starting to face changes or delays to our clinical trials. There has also not been any mention of possibly pursuing accelerated approval.

For a company with such a great product and 100 mill in the bank (and little to show for the previous 100 million burned through), I am surprised that they seem to think they have all the time in the world seemingly unaware that they could get pipped at the post. It's important that PAR gets over the line first and by a sufficient enough margin to carve out their market share before other, more well resourced companies like Novartis enter the market.

Just my opinion, DYOR