NBB wrote "....you are right anything is possible in the trial, however had we hit 250 MACE events back in late November early december i would maybe think we are not getting the trial results desired for our TEST group, the longer this is taking the more confident Apabeatlone is doing exactly what the post hoc results from Assure trial showed...."

KBC responded "All you're saying is that you think BETonMace will be most likely be successful.  I think probably everyone here agrees with that.  No one is saying that it's unlikely to succeed. But at this point it's an empirical question yet to be determined."

Just to piggy back on that.......it is clear that the trial is taking longer than originally anticipated. However, to paraphrase a wise hub member who messaged me recently.....this lower than expected observed event rate may due to 1) the entire trial population having a lower residual MACE rate than originally projected (i.e. the placebo event rate); 2) apabetalone lowering the MACE incidence to a greater degree than expected; or 3) a combination of both. I'm not saying BETonMACE won't be successful. I am simply acknowledging that there are other explanations that are still possible. 

BearDownAZ