As reported earlier that CytoDyn has entered into an Agreement with The Massachusetts General Hospital for a clinical trial of Cytolin®, the company’s novel immune therapy for treating HIV/AIDS. The Agreement between CytoDyn and Massachusetts General Hospital takes a different approach to new drug development that merges elements of the private and public sectors. CytoDyn believes this approach is superior to the standard modalities because it can provide:

    * Enhanced ROI for pharmaceutical companies.
    * Reduced burden on taxpayers.
    * Accelerated progress in clinical medicine.

Public teaching hospitals across US are usually working on some new drug development; these are funded by the government, via involuntary tax collections from individuals and corporations. The government reduces risk (the risk of criticism) by funding research that is popular in the academic community and is otherwise politically correct. Whereas, researchers at teaching hospitals are under no obligation to produce results that have utility or that provide taxpayers with any tangible benefits. Somewhere or the other, all the dollars spent provide a better knowledge base and intangible benefit for society in return. As a case in point, a significant portion of the basic science that underlies Cytolin®, i.e., the “prior art,” was funded by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

On the other hand, individuals and institutional investors voluntarily inject their money at risk in made-for-profit companies who come up with new drugs and medicines every now and then, but later on have to leave the market just because their studies are on the basis of intuitions, fad theories, anecdotal observations or microbiological phenomena.

The study, CytoDyn is funding at Massachusetts General Hospital is science-intensive and is intended as a prelude to a follow-on clinical trial at the same Institution. In other words, CytoDyn is funding research of a type that is usually funded by the government, except that the funds represent money voluntarily placed at risk by investors rather than tax dollars. While CytoDyn will retain its intellectual property rights and will have access to the study data, it will not own the data, which will be owned by Massachusetts General Hospital. This research, therefore, provides Massachusetts General Hospital with an opportunity to pursue its mission of conducting relevant and potentially seminal research using funds from a non-governmental source representing a deep-pocket segment of the economy. This would not be possible in the case of a drug that does not reflect a potential scientific breakthrough, such as a “me too” drug.

Original Blog Link: http://blog.insidecytolin.com/?p=337