Well, I'm back from vacation, not quite as worn out as I'd feared. But I haven't been keeping up with the news, unless my son's frequent updates on the extinct status of Tyrannosaurs counts (they're still extinct, worse luck, in case you're wondering.)

I'll get oriented in the scientific world tomorrow at work, but it'll be a short week in generalm as mentioned in the previous post. I've had more interesting e-mails on the Ariad patent business, which move me to clear up something:

I don't have the list of roughly fifty companies that Ariad seems to have contacted. That info was from the Wall St. Journal story from last week, which is still one of the more complete write-ups. There's an AP story that several newspapers picked up, but it doesn't really give the flavor of the thing, and Ariad's Business Wire press releases aren't the most wonderful source, either.

If Ariad's really serious, I think we can assume that every company that works in cancer, inflammation, or autoimmune diseases has been contacted. That should give you fifty companies with no problem at all. It would be very interesting to know if anyone has actually agreed to terms with them, but my guess is that no one has. It's too early for anyone to have reacted to the issuance of their patent, and if anyone had licensed with them earlier, I feel sure that Ariad would have press-released the deal until hell wouldn't have it.

The other thing I'd like to make clear is that I have no position, long or short, in Ariad stock. Judging from the trading volume and the choppy look of their daily charts, not many other people do, either. Nor do I have any position in their options, not that there must be too many open contracts there, either. If I do take any positions, I'll state them publicly.