Do or die

What Forster didn’t know then was that 15% of men have low PSA readings, despite having severe prostate cancer. He now knows his father had a similar experience, but because he died in his early 80s, genetic links were ignored.

Forster’s doctors did respond to his repeated concerns, however, and sent him for a biopsy. The results weren’t good. Like Watson his cancer had spread. He had a prostatectomy to remove his prostate, radiation and hormone ablation therapy.

The more both men read and discovered about their cancer, the more gaps they found. Not only were prostate cancer diagnostic tests woefully inadequate, treatments were limited. Even hormone ablation therapy becomes ineffective after just a few years.

For prostate cancer, like most cancers, early diagnosis is crucial, says Watson. About 2000 men in New Zealand each year are diagnosed with prostate cancer. On average more than 600 of those die. But with earlier diagnosis it’s estimated that between 200 and 300 of those who die could be saved. But given the lack of focus on men’s health — especially compared with breast cancer — few seek help early enough and many are misdiagnosed.

Against the odds, both Watson and Forster appear to be winning their personal battles with prostate cancer. Both are tanned, fit and healthy and say they feel better than fine. Both have put themselves on healthy Mediterranean-style diets and eagerly list the benefits of the sun, grilled tomatoes, olive oil and fruit and vegetables. Forster is animated when he recalls how Watson turned up at his farm unannounced after finding out about his cancer, with $200 worth of food and a food processor and proceeded “to educate” him about staying healthy. “Because it was Jim, we listened. If it had been someone else you might have thought they were a nutcase.”

Neither takes credit for Caldera, though both admit their personalities and backgrounds made it impossible for them not to research everything there was to know about prostate cancer. It just seemed natural to discuss the possibilities, says Forster. “The pieces just fitted together in a rather sweet fashion. Once you come to realise that there are not a lot of products out there to control prostate cancer and make life better, you begin to see the opportunity there.”

But they’ve learnt from their pasts. Neither believes there’s a silver bullet. That’s what the young biotech bucks believe, says Watson. “I think you need an arsenal of tools to beat cancer ... including changing your lifestyle. We realised there was actually a niche there to do something quite different, to develop better diagnostics and Richard, like me, is really big on immune therapies so that was another stimulus.”

Caldera Health was registered with the Companies Office last year. Watson and Forster have more than two years of detailed research under their belts and they’re now ready to get serious. Between them they’ve identified several biomarkers they hope will knock the diagnostic socks off the PSA test, and work as a sensitive monitoring system to evaluate new treatments. They are also looking at several potential immune therapies that might be applied to prostate cancer. Life sciences investment firm Pacific Channel is in the process of nailing down some seed funding and Watson and Forster contacted the New Zealand Prostate Cancer Foundation to present their case and, hopefully, tap into a bank of prostate cancer sufferers for their testing programme.

Forster says Caldera Health isn’t your typical biotech company. It’s about developing a whole approach and treatment platform to tackling prostate cancer, he says. “When you’re younger you try and do the sexy sounding things — you’re going to find the wonder drug or whatever. But we’re long in the tooth now, we’ve started companies before. We’re past that stage now and we want to do something that will work and will work quickly.” That’s why they aren’t even considering a new prostate cancer wonder drug, instead concentrating on evaluating a range of compounds they’ve identified that have already been trialled for other medical indications.

Barry Young, chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, is excited about Watson and Forster. “You don’t have to be with them too long to pick up the vibe.” Brent Ogilvie, director of Pacific Channel, says their approach is already attracting investor interest. “I think it will be an easier ride for them this time round because they are applying known technologies and looking to develop some short-term revenues from selling a diagnostic solution.”

Some investors may be put off given the founding scientists of Caldera Health both have prostate cancer, but the pair’s motivation, knowledge and experience are without question, he says.

“Obviously we’re not going to get ‘key man insurance’, but then you never know when a disaster is going to hurt your key scientists.”

Forster says he and Watson are too experienced “to chase rainbows”. They know there will be failures, which is why their personal experience of the diagnostics and treatments should be a drawcard for investors. “Because we both come from different experiences with prostate cancer, we can see exactly where the gaps are and how we can fill them. I don’t think we could’ve started a prostate cancer company without having been through the experience in a very personal and unpleasant way.”

Genesis investors spent more than a year trying to find out what he didn’t know about what he was trying to do, says Watson. “What’s amazing about Caldera is that no one — investor, doctor or scientist — questions what we know about prostate cancer. Our credibility is sky high because it’s very hard to find something we haven’t read, thought about or argued. It’s the sort of credibility you can’t buy.”

Current Genesis chairman Aki von Roy says both Watson and Forster are fantastic scientists and also dreamers. “If you don’t dream, all you do is gather facts. It’s the dreamer’s component, the creative component, that’s the part that actually drives them.

“The concept of retirement for people like Jim doesn’t exist, nor does it exist for people like Charlie Chaplin or Matisse or Picasso or for any creative person; they can never and will never retire.”

Watson admits retirement was always the last thing on his mind even when he was given just a few months to live. If it hadn’t been Caldera, it would have been something else, he says. “I don’t see what I do as work. You’re stimulated by all sorts of things you don’t know in the morning. It’s the awakening part. It’s a privilege. I love it.”