4 Questions
Former stockbroker Bruce Hendry launches a crusade against cancer.
Over a 10-day period in December 2002, Minneapolis investor Bruce Hendry was hit with a quadruple-whammy. First, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. A few days later, tests confirmed a worst-case scenario—it was stage-four mantle cell lymphoma. A couple more days passed and he was told the cancer had metastasized into his bone marrow.A day later, the final, crushing blow—the cancer had also infiltrated his colon.
Things ultimately improved. Hendry is now healthy, and he’s become a key investor in a company that’s working on a promising new cancer therapy.
1 What were your thoughts once the diagnosis had time to sink in?
Number one, the good news was that my life expectancy of three to five years was an average. I always thought I was above average so maybe I could live longer than three years. Number two, maybe medicine would come up with something to cure this in the three to five years I had left. Number three, I was only 60 years old and I thought I’d live longer, but I’d had a long, full life.
2. How were you cured?
I was researching my disease on the Internet and stumbled across the MD Anderson Cancer Center, a world-renowned Houston clinic that specializes in treating mantle cell lymphoma.
I discovered that it was testing a new treatment option. Three weeks later, my wife, Sharon, and I were in Houston. Five months later, after six rounds of chemotherapy, the doctors told me I was cancer free. I made it back to Minneapolis just in time for my daughter Jill’s wedding.
3. How did you come to be an investor and director of Eleos, an Omaha, Neb.-based company that has developed a cancer-fighting drug?
Mason Matschke, a Chicago stockbroker, recommended it to me. He had invested in Eleos in an earlier round and the company was looking to raise some more money. I did the due diligence: I read the materials; talked to the founder, Dr. Larry Smith; and checked out the references mentioned in the offer circular. There were two MD Anderson research doctors conducting a trial so I flew to Houston to meet with them. Even though the trial wasn’t conducted in the form and manner that Larry said was optimal, they still got 100 percent better results than would have been expected from the test group had the drug not been used. That was exciting, because a 15 percent improvement over expected results is considered significant by the FDA.
4. Are more trials being planned?
Yes, we’ll be starting pivotal trials this summer in several locations. Unlike exploratory trials, which show what the compound can do, pivotal trials are designed to obtain FDA approval. I’m also very excited about an upcoming exploratory trial on fourth-stage melanoma because the results will be apparent so quickly. The life expectancy of the group we’ll be treating can be measured in a matter of weeks. So if they live longer than a few months, we’ll know right away if it’s the compound that’s making the difference.