An Opportunity To Get In Ahead Of The Crowd At Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc (OTCMKTS:NWBO)

Ask a group of small cap biotechnology investors to name one of the most frustrating companies in the space over the last 12 months, and chances are you'll hear the name Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc (OTCMKTS:NWBO) more than once.The company is a biotech focusing on using immuno oncology to treat various types of cancer. Despite what looks to be quite a promising pipeline of assets, however, and a potentially game changing proprietary technology that affords it the opportunity to develop treatments targeting blockbuster cancer indications, it has lost close to 97% of its market capitalization over the last 18 months.The driving force behind these losses was the halting (or perhaps it's best to say temporary enrollment hold) of what at the time was the company's lead trial. Back in August 2015, management announced that the FDA had suspended patient screening (and in turn, enrollment) for a phase 3 study investigating Northwest's lead, a drug called DCVax-L in a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) indication. Screening halts are relatively common at this end of the biotechnology space, but this one was a little different. The company pretty much failed to serve up any explanation for the halt at time of announcement, and – perhaps more importantly – has since failed to do so, leaving markets guessing as to what happened, and what is going to happen moving forward.We have speculated on the situation on a couple of occasions in the past, and readers can find our thoughts on the issue here.Anyway, we're not here to discuss that. What we are here to discuss is an as yet unannounced, but nonetheless very relevant addition to the company's story. Specifically, Northwest has added a clinical trial to clinicaltrials.gov, detailing an investigation into the efficacy of its DCVax-L asset in a range of glioblastomas and gliosarcomas. As a quick side note, on the entry page, which readers can find here, the drug is listed as a Dendritic Cell-Autologous Lung Tumor Vaccine. We are assuming this is a mistake, and that the L in the DCVax-L abbreviation stands for Lysine, as opposed to Lung. That's relatively unimportant right now, but worth noting.What is important, is that this is a phase 2 trial investigating the asset in the same indication (pretty much) as the trial for which screening is temporarily halted, and – even more so – that's the trial is investigating the efficacy of DCVax-L in combination with a drug called Nivolumab. Those not familiar with the name Nivolumab may be more familiar with its commercial brand name, OPDIVO. OPDIVO is a blockbuster anti-PD-1 antibody asset currently commercialized by healthcare giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY). If Northwest can demonstrate that its asset improves the clinical benefit in patients who take BMY's OPDIVO with this trial, it would pave the way for a pivotal that could – in turn – set the drug up as a first line adjuvant in this indication. In other words, if things go smoothly, this is a real game changer for Northwest.Perhaps the most interesting thing about this right now, is that Northwest is yet to announce the trial publicly. This offers an opportunity to get in ahead of the announcement, and benefit from the inevitable upside that comes with the public release. The study is set to kick off in April this year, so we don't expect management to wait too long before putting out a series of press releases detailing the investigation, and what it might mean for Northwest and BMY going forward.A recent raise negates the potential for near term dilution, but anyone thinking of picking up an exposure should bear in mind that this company doesn't have a great track record when it comes to financing, and that some dilution is pretty much inevitable across the scope of a medium to long-term holding.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on NWBO, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in NWBO and have not been compensated for this article.