Is It Dishonest?

Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. (Nasdaq: NSTK) announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. patent application No. 10/976,942, entitled "Phage Displayed Trp Cage Ligands." The patent application has claims that relate to a novel, high-throughput method for identifying peptides which can bind to specific cell types.

"A major obstacle in the development of safe and effective medicines today is the inability to target the therapeutic directly to the cells of interest," stated Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Nastech. "The technology of this allowed patent provides Nastech with a process for rapidly identifying peptides that target specific cells. These targeting peptides can then be combined with therapeutics to enhance overall delivery and overcome this key challenge in drug development."

Why then did Nastech sack the Phage Display group in 2006. The Cargo Cult Scientist knew members of this team and the reason they were given was contrary to the above quote from the CEO. It just wasn't working. The question then is simple. Is this dishonest?

In Cargo Cult terms, yes this is dishonest. They stood at the airport and employed their technology. They looked to the sky and no planes came. They sent the staff home. A couple of years later they still talk about the technology. Their government has given them a nod of approval but no planes have come.