Not that I want to give any credibility to how Pestell was running things in oncology, But there might be a good reason for combining Leronlimab with chemo and dose escalation. For HIV, Cytodyn wanted to go for monotherapy right away, The FDA is the one that said there are no monotherapies in HIV so you have to test leronlimab as a combo thereapy first. For cancer, I can see the same thought process. Also, recruiting for a drug trial where the SOC is omitted for a drug that is unproven and the disease is so deadly might be a tall request for patients to accept. Phase 2 trials are meant to discover everything possible and to form a phase 3 that will lead to approval.

I don't think this was the clear thinking on Pestell's part, mostly because i don't think it would take months to formulate and implement. I also don't think Pestell had a clue on how to navigate FDA approvals or protocals mostly because he was so sure of his prostrate test that ultimately got written off.