Hi Plough, I am not medical professional, but will try to answer...

Hi Plough, I am not medical professional, but will try to answer the questions.

1.Does that mean that people getting Nexavar only lived an average of 18 months after treatment started, and those getting the sugar water only lasted around 15 months?
Yes, but as I understand it, any survival after the finish date of the trial is not factored in.

2I am guessing this is a phase 2 drug trial with Nexavar, going by the number of patients ?
Nexavar is already FDA approved. It had something like an 80% response rate for TTP(time to progression)but no proven survival when it was approved. Being a post marketing study, I guess it is phase3 or 4


3Got any idea how much Nexavar cost to develop.
Nexavar is a complicated drug. Coramsine I believe is cheap to produce.
From Onyx Pharmaceuticals form 10K
"We have not been profitable since inception and expect to incur substantial and potentially increasing losses for the foreseeable future, due to expenses associated with the continuing development and commercialization of Nexavar. Since inception, we have relied on public and private financings, combined with milestone payments from our collaborators to fund our operations. In January 2006, we received the fourth and final $10.0 million milestone advance from Bayer as a result of the FDA approval of Nexavar. However, we expect that our losses will continue and will fluctuate from quarter to quarter and that such fluctuations may be substantial. As of December 31, 2006, our accumulated deficit was approximately $438.5 million."
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/070305/onxx10-k.html

4Are there any other renal cancer drugs in trial
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_6X_Whats_new_in_kidney_cancer_research_and_treatment_22.asp?sitearea=

5What side effects with either coramisine or Nexavar
Nexavar: http://www.chemocare.com/bio/nexavar.asp
Coramsine: No serious irreversable side effects.

6What is the servival rate taking no drugs with renal cell cancer? Dont know, below with the best approved treatments.
The outcome varies depending on the degree of metastasis. The 5-year survival rate is around 60 - 75% if the tumor is in the early stages and has not spread outside the kidney. If it has metastasized to the lymph nodes, the 5-year survival is around 5 - 15%. If it has spread to other organs, the 5-year survival at less than 5%.
Renal cell carcinoma affects about 3 in 10,000 people, resulting in about 32,000 new cases in the US per year. Every year, about 12,000 people in the US die from renal cell carcinoma. It occurs is most common in people between 50 and 70 years of age, and typically affects men.

7Are there any drugs available at the moment for renal cancer ( I am guessing you can use radiation the cancer but thats not a drug)
Nexavar and Sutent. I think Interferon is also used. See the link for Q4

8WHy has no large drug company bought out SBP if it is so good and the cap is so low
Not enough evidence for a decent price. Need that phase 2

9 WHen would coramisine be ready for the market????
Depends how good he phase 2 results are. As you can see there are no real effective therapies for late stage RCC.