Although I don't know what Dr Mondello said at the conference, I...

Although I don't know what Dr Mondello said at the conference, I can have a good guess at what she was looking for in the INTREPID2566 trial.

The study at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3219030/ provides background to the use of biomarkers in TBI. Mondello was presumably looking to see whether biomarkers accurately track pathophysiological events that occur following a brain injury. If the condition of the patient deteriorates, biomarkers should mirror the deterioration but if the patient's condition improves then biomarkers in real-time should mirror the improvement. Put into the context of the trial, biomarkers could potentially track any changes to acute physiological processes following administration of drug and/or placebo refer trial secondary outcome measures. Hence, the reference within the precis of the presentation as to the evaluation of biomarkers as potential indicators of drug efficacy.

Now we come back to this weeks presentation. What were the initial findings from the first cohort of TBI patients? The trial of course is double blind so results cannot be assigned to drug vis-a-vis placebo. Nonetheless, the Doctor must have thought they revealed something of significance otherwise why present the findings.