[U] One Early Stage Israeli (Phase I) Immuno Oncology Long-Shot Comes Up Dry, For Merck...

Ahem. In the world of bio-science, it often turns out this way. And a $95 million upfront is tiny -- meaningless to Kenilworth. A disappointment? Sure. But, as with all other things, one takes a deep breath, writes it off, and. . . moves on.

Here's the June 2015 backgrounder; and here's today's denouement of that story, and a bit:

. . . .A spokesperson for the company confirmed something that is already posted to the US public clinical trials registry.

“Merck has decided to stop further clinical development of MK-6018 (CM-24). In the initial Phase 1 dose-ranging study, no efficacy signals were detected. The decision to discontinue further development is not due to any known safety risks.”

And there goes a deal completed with a $95 million upfront and $510 million in milestones that won’t get paid. . . .

UPDATED: 3 PM EDT -- just as I repeatedly said, OrangeCare is DOA. Even though the GOP clearly controls both chambers, and the Oval Office, they couldn't even get it to the starting line -- let alone finish it. And whether I disagree with its goals or not is of no moment, at the moment. What it points up, clearly, is that Mr. Trump has no ability to parse details, in anyone's positions.

In short, he is unfit to govern, since he doesn't even understand (or care to discern) which ones might be the right questions to ask. Mr. Ryan bears responsibility here too -- but it is hilarious that Mr. Trump is blaming Democrats for the defeat of his ill-starred OrangeCare lunacy. He won in a sweep, in November -- and as the ides of March arrive -- he cannot even get his own party to agree on what they ran on. Hilarious -- but this has nothing to do with Democrats, or even to do with ObamaCare. . . it is an epic internal failure of the GOP. After all, the ACA of 2010 passed without a single GOP vote. So 45 looks foolish, again. [I might look for a renewed effort in 2018, after the mid-terms. End, updated portion.]

Moving on, then -- getting out, for a long garden lunch, on a flawless 80 degree Friday. . . . yep. I'm out. Be excellent to someone who may not. . . deserve it.

नमस्ते