Closer to reality is a small company’s dependence on other enterprises to complete crucial steps in the run-up to submitting the IND. There is little a small company...or even a large company in some cases...to accelerate whatever the partner is doing, and publicly expressing dissatisfaction is likely to result in unwanted consequences. We can criticize Joe but in most cases all he can do is arrange for competent outside assistance and accept whatever schedule is set for completion of the necessary work. We can bash Joe but in these cases there are no options beyond whatever they’ve contracted for. Sad but true. And frankly there is no point in doing an update each week if the update simply repeats ‘we’re waiting on XX company to complete this necessary step and we’ll let you know when it’s completed.’ This we already know. The update we’re continuing to wait for.