on balance, a good call. We have a new CEO - that

on balance, a good call. We have a new CEO - that is huge, and he is very impressive, has ties to BP, experience in business development, etc - i'm super excited about this - and that's enough to make the call positive on balance for me.

They mentioned that their "#1 Priority" is addressing the clinical hold - so we learned that indeed, it's a very big deal - the biggest current issue right from their own mouths. Later they basically said that the BLA is on hold until this is rectified, which bummed me out - in other words, i think we're still a long ways from getting the BLA done.

The description of NASH was so long and detailed, that i really got lost - i was hoping to hear more excitement about how incredible the results are. I think they are incredible, but i took away that a good amount more analysis is needed?

On the partnership front.....i personally don't think we're in active discussions right now. I wouldn't be surprised if the clinical hold is the issue - that they need to get that addressed before having a partner come on board. If i were a potential partner, that would spook me.

Anyway, i'm thrilled about the new CEO - that's enough for me, and i'm glad they had the call and announced that. I will say i came away concerned about how much time they spent on continued legal and regulatory issues. We're clearly not in the clear yet. I certainly think we'll get past that stuff - but it's just another hurdle that could drive longer delays.