Some really good questions there antibody. I can offer no...

Some really good questions there antibody. I can offer no answers but do have some thoughts on your points. And I won't say DYOR, promise.

1. Don't bother asking cardiac surgeons. They just use stuff that others invent. Not decrying their skills but producing stem cell therapies isn't one of them.

2. Insider bio/medic types have little to offer to satisfy your curiosity because there is ONE and only ONE determinant of whether or not investors make a killing via MSB and CHF treatment and that is the success of phase 3 trials. These trials being double blinded, it follows that there are no insiders. The only chance for insider info would come at trial wrap-up, in the interval between final data analysis and announcement to the market. Such leaks do occur but they don't come the way of us ordinary folk.

3. Size of potential market? I don't know that either but as a retired medico I am totally confident it would be one of the largest markets ever for a successful therapy. CHF has a number of causes and they are not diminishing in number. And the increasing number of people surviving into older age guarantees an increasing market.

Nobody knows what price governments would be prepared to pay but for sure they'll be very happy to pay plenty for something that keeps patients out of the hospitals that are busting budgets. And that reduces use of expensive drugs. And keeps constituents happy.

So, not a declining market at all. And the stents, valve jobs etc are not "minor" procedures. They are expensive, risky and often ineffective. If they and statins and stopping smoking etc were sufficiently effective at preventing CHF then there wouldn't be a problem for stem cells to fix. Fact is, these measures don't always work and apart from that there are other causes of CHF that they don't address.

It's an increasing market, not a declining one.

4. The only support I can offer to try to satisfy your request for some level of confidence that MSB's stem cells will treat CHF, AND be a commercial success is Teva's continuing involvement. These are not people who have any form in pursuing anything less than strong chances. That's as strong a tip as you'll ever get. And, IMO, it's a better tip than an insider's because some insider tips are poisoned baits. You bet Teva isn't punting (? hundreds of?) millions of $ for any reason other than to make billions. 10 to 20 % of that would make MSB owners very happy.

Totally my opinion, if this venture is successful, the profit will be the greatest ever for a single medical therapy.

As promised, I wont say DYOR, but don't miss the "if" in the previous paragraph. And the word "venture" covers all the risks involved in biotech, not just the phase 3 trials.