Dragonfly, A Long Term R&D Partner Of Merck (And Celgene) Grabs A World-Class President Of R&D: In Dr. Joseph E. Eid...

Overnight we learned that Dr. Eid had left Merck some time ago. Also overnight, we read that he has been named to head all research and development at the Waltham, Mass. based Dragonfly Therapeutics.

This is very welcome news, for Dragonfly -- and an important validation point. It also likely helps to cement the contractual collaborations between much larger Merck, Celgene. . . and Dragonfly. [One of several of my prior backgrounders on Dragonfly, from October of 2018, here.]

So great news, all the way 'round -- in the burgeoning immuno oncology space. Here's the presser, and a bit:

. . .Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies, today announced that Joseph E. Eid, M.D., has joined the Company as President of Research and Development. Dr. Eid brings 20 years of deep immunotherapy clinical development experience including as team leader at Merck in the Pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1 antibody) first in human trial leading to registration of Keytruda^®. He will be responsible for all aspects of clinical development and research at Dragonfly. . . .

"We are delighted to welcome Joe to Dragonfly," said Bill Haney, Co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly. "Joe's world-class immunotherapy drug development experience will be critical as we rapidly advance our three wholly-owned immunotherapy candidates in the clinic, including our Phase 2 HER2-targeting and Phase 1 EGFR-targeting TriNKETs^TM, and our novel interleukin-12 (IL-12) cytokine investigational immunotherapy, currently in Phase 1 dose escalation. Joe's track record in building clinical teams and creatively and effectively accelerating first in class clinical trials is impressive - and he is joining Dragonfly at a transformative time for us. . . ."

And separately, even though Merck's Covid therapeutic pill Lagevrio^® is now predicted to sell less robustly in 2023 and beyond, Merck remains a very solid bet to rise well above $125 a share in the next 12 months, given the ongoing patent protection the juggernaut immuno oncology franchise Keytruda will enjoy -- well into the '30s. That is a formidable earnings engine.

So let the dust settle on yesterday's sturm and drang -- all the near term breathlessness, and. . . buy in -- at around $103. It will almost certainly have done better than Bitcoin -- or 8X8 -- and by a long stretch, when we arrive at the open of Q2 2024 (with far less risk). [As ever, do your own diligence here.] Smile. . . .

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