Seeks The Truth

Cougar Biotechnology: Stalking Prostate Cancer

Cougar has a dirty little secret that taints their "good news."
It's unfortunate that you aren't aware of the issue or were aware and failed to comment.

Dr. Howard Scher is listed as being involved with the company as an advisor and I suspect that he is also a stockholder. The same Dr. Scher, knowing that Cougar has been working on a chemo-therapeutic agent to fight Prostate Ca, helped wage a successful war to prevent Dendreon's Provenge, a new and revolutionary immunologic vaccine for the same late stage Prostate Ca from being approved by the FDA in May of 2007.

Dr. Scher also failed to list his relationship with Cougar on the COI forms required by the FDA before he sat on an advisory committee that reviewed Provenge. Why??
Interestingly enough, the same Dr. Scher was deeply involved with another company called Novacea that was developing a product that would be a competitior to Dendrion's product.
Another "coincidence?"

The PV advisory committee ultimately voted 17-0 <!!> that Provenge was SAFE and 13-4 <!!> that Provenge was SUBSTANTIALLY effective, the FDA's own measure of success. This should have maent an easy approval for the immunotherapy.
Not so. Scher and Maha Hussain M.D., another chemotherapy advocate, wrote letters to the FDA opposing Provenge approval that were conveniently leaked to the press .
Perhaps not so shockingly, the FDA, in a near unprecedented move, declined to approve Provenge...asking for "more data."

Oh, did I forget to mention that Dr. Eric J. Small, another Urologist heavily involved in PCa research, was involved with Cougar??
He was supposed to be on the panel reviewing Provenge too, but never showed up for the meeting, citing travel problems.
Or maybe his conscience held sway when he considered his own conflict of interest.
Would you be surprised to know that not a peep has been heard from Dr. Small about the Provenge debacle since early last year??
Not me!!

So, Drs. Small and Scher are BOTH listed as being on the Cougar Scientific Advisory Board. Both have vested interests in promoting chemotherapy for late stage prostate cancer and Scher at least, made an all out effort to throttle a new, exciting and revolutionary product that was SUBSTANTIALLY effective in prolonging survival in an otherwise fatal diagnosis for TENS of THOUSANDS of American men who die every year from this deadly cancer.

Shame on Scher for not revealing his many conflicts of interests before sitting on a panel that was judging a competitive product.

Shame on Small for not showing up to defend Provenge and then not speaking out against his colleague's actions.

Shame on the FDA for rejecting a fantastic new product that would prolong survival in men with the death sentence of advanced prostate cancer.

And shame on EVERYONE who has looked the other way while this travesty against American men continues to play on.

What the hell is happening to our country???