surely not long to go before decision time

Afternoon gang.

Well it cannot be too far away until we hear from that muppet NZ health minister Cunliffe. Whilst waiting on his decision (and he's had the NHC recommendation for about a month now so who knows what he's doing..) I have been re-reading some of his media releases and replies from his office to my enquiries. Some of what he's said is as follows:

25/06/08:

The decision is a complex one in part because the high probability of a positive impact on a limited number of diabetes sufferers needs to be balanced against the low probability of a potentially very serious porcine retrovirus affecting a broader population

29/07/08:

Xenotransplantation is very much an experimental treatment. Even if the trial is approved, the wider group of diabetes patients in NZ is unlikely to benefit in the short to meduim term.


He seems to have a negative tone when talking about LCT's application so I'm not going to be suprised if he rejects the request. I think it will be a short term setback (for the SP only) as LCT still has the Russian trials underway and are looking at doing a trial with the BDC in Denver, USA...the first application to be lodged with the FDA towards the end of the year.

Either way, they still have plenty of cash in the bank, I believe enough to continue trials for another year or two so in the current matket environment, things aren't so bad.


Waiting patiently...

SW