Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions) We'll go first to the line of Joe Pantginis from Canaccord Adams. Please go ahead.
Joe Patginis – Canaccord Adams
Hi guys, good afternoon. Just two questions, if you will. The first one is on Takeda and the second is on earlier stage GVAX program. Can you describe to us what kind of activities you've undertaken thus far with Takeda? And then secondly, since we're looking at 2009 to sort of have your expenses come down from your late stage products, I was wondering if you could give us some sort of update on pre-clinical progress you've been making on programs that you're excited about, such as GVAX-1. Thanks a lot.
Stephen Sherwin
Sure. Be happy to address those questions. First, with respect to the initiation of activities with Takeda, this is occurring on multiple fronts. There have already been meetings and discussions between the clinical and regulatory teams and also the commercial teams. The latter addressing important issues like communications with the medical community, and of course, our ongoing reimbursement activities.
More comprehensive kinds of meetings, including the implementation of the various governance committees that are specified in the contract, of course, are imminent as well. It's always hard to know, Joe, when you sign a collaboration how things are going to go after the agreement is negotiated and executed and the wire transfer occurs. But I just want to say to you and everybody listening in, I couldn't be more enthusiastic and more optimistic about the prospects for a good collaboration based on the good chemistry that I see, not only between myself and the senior officials at Takeda but at every level and every point of contact.
Now, your other question was about, given our ongoing commitment to careful expense management and keeping our focus on GVAX prostate, what can we do to advance the pipeline? Let me remind everybody that we have been very fortunate over the last couple of years and this also is continuing to be true and having the benefit of a multi-product multi-year collaboration with Johns Hopkins which is a highly leveraged opportunity from a financial standpoint for Cell Genesys
And what we have going on there are the kinds of exploratory Phase 2 trials that you would want to see for the two products in particular, GVAX pancreatic and GVAX leukemia so that we can define where the best opportunities are to invest. And at that point in time where we've reached a conclusion, we would be in a position to talk about how much investment depending on the stage of the program we would want to make. As far as GVAX lung is concerned, this is in pre-clinical studies, so within all of the limits of expense management and the forecasting that Sharon was able to do today, this program is full steam ahead.
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