From COR Yahoo Board;
My latest e-mail to Dr. Stoll...
by: ombowstring (55/M/Cape Cod, MA)
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 05/18/05 07:44 am
Msg: 20227 of 20228
Hi Dr. Stoll,
I understand that there are probably negotiations going on right now with interested Big Pharmas for the rights to CX717. Please be cautious, and firm, in your bargaining stance.
In my opinion if CX717 is effective in treating Alzheimer's, COR is worth $100 a share or more so we really have the upper hand or are in the position of strength. Also, with more than one company vying for the rights to CX717, we have the leverage to force the highest bid possible. In addition, the more successful clinical trials and the more favorable, perhaps spectacular publicity we get, the higher the stock price goes, and thus the terms of any licensing deal should go up theretofore.
Don't sell out cheap.
Sincerely,
John Mackenzie
His erudite reply...
by: ombowstring (55/M/Cape Cod, MA)
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 05/18/05 07:45 am
Msg: 20228 of 20228
John, It has been my position all along not to sell cheap and we resisted the urge to do so previously. You are simply telling me what I have already stated publicly to shareholders over and over again. However to continue to conduct clinical trials also raises the risks that something could in the future go wrong, ie - new unknown side effects, failure of some clinical trial, advanced toxicology studies find something we had not seen before, etc. Balancing out the go forward strategy with the need to strengthen the company must always be kept in mind. Sure if everything goes perfect, then it would be simple logic to go to phase III and then strike a deal. Most of the time in our industry something goes wrong, and only occassionally things come out right. Think about the billions large Pharma sinks into drug development annually, and then look at the success rate. It should tell you something about the size of the risk. While we currently have seen positive results with CX717, in terms of development, this is still viewed by those in the know as an early stage product (one pilot phase IIa study completed). We still have not shown that it works in a specific disease state, which is why we have other pilots under way. We have always stated that what you suggest is our position, and it will govern what we do, but don't simply assume that the past predicts the future. We do have an exciting platform, but we need at least 6 compounds out of our preclinical development to improve the chances of success. We absolutely want to do whatever it will take to create further shareholder value. The impact of a good pharma deal on our share price could be significant and yet we are clearly aware that if we can push CX717 further along it would fetch a higher price. The trick is understanding the risks vs the returns at all points in time. Hence, if we bring CX717 to a point where it will help assure the future growth of the company, we have an interested party with adequate resources to continue the development and marketing of a potential product, and we have other very exciting compounds which are available to us, then a deal which is within the industry standards for a drug at a specific stage of development must be assessed critically by us. Anything we do must get the approval of our board of directors, and we have people on the board who are knowlegable financially, technically, and have marketing/sales understanding. If we do or do not do a deal, it will have passed by a very knowledgeable group of people who fully understand both our needs to be successful and how to create more value for Cortex shareholders. Finally, there is always the other party in a deal who will have significant understanding for what they are buying and also work within the realities of the market place. So while that in an extremely broad way defines some, but not all the issues which must be weighed, hopefully it will provide some food for thought for you. You can believe me, that If I thought your $100 per share were within easy reach, we would probably go for it!! I appreciate your earnest interest in our company and thanks for being such a loyal shareholder. Best regards, Roger
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