San Fran,

I love the Star Factory analogy. In the Q&A from the Zenith AGM in January (caveat: this is Masila's transcript so probably not 100% correct word for word):

"Q: Can part of ZEL be sold? E.g. just the prostate cancer portion?

A: Yes, Henrik Hansen has done a great job of compartmentalizing the IP. It’s kind of an “onion” approach – different layers can be peeled off and sold separately. Key is to focus on and get this first Proof of Concept done to prove our approach – then the floodgates will open"

You call it a Star Factory; DM/HH call it an onion approach. Either way, my question is what distinguishes one star or onion layer from the other. Is it a particular disease program (i.e. prostate cancer, autoimmune program, CVD, renal, etc.), in which case several BET inhibitors shown clinically and/or pre-clinically to affect a particular disease are shot/peeled off? Or is the star/layer a single molecule, such as RVX-208 or ZEN-3694? Maybe the star/layer comprises an entire subset of BET inhbitors based on a particular scaffold, bromodomain preference (BD1, BD2 or both), BET family member (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, BRDT) or other property (ie.e covalent vs. non-covalent inhibitor)?

The Q&A from above was from the Zenith AGM. To the best of my knowledge, Resverlogix has never alluded to this Star Factory/Onion approach since spinning off Zenith. Please correct me if I'm wrong. In any case, both Resverlogix and Zenith are programs with a single each molecule in the clinic, although Resverlogix plans to announce a new follow on molecule this year and Zenith announced ZEN-3717 as a back up molecule to ZEN-3694. Yes, they each have well over 1000 other molecules in their respective libraries. However, to this date no BET bromodomain inhibitor has yet to advance from clincial trials into an approved therapeutic. BET inhibitors still have a lot to prove.

As DM indicated in the Q&A, the priority is to "get this first Proof of Concept done to prove our approach – then the floodgates will open." So SanFran, I like the picture you are painting but it is too early IMO to be expecting too much discussion from Resverlogix or Zenith management on this issue. If and when the time is right (maybe next year's AGM?), then I hope we get a clarification on what would be packaged into these potential spin offs.

BearDownAZ