Michael, why do you conclude they can not find a partner? It is clear to me they are still looking and may in fact be negotiating. The timing of the announcement was the patent expiration of Mevacor and their approval from the FDA. I still expect they will have a partner prior to launch. The following is an excerpt from a Gruntal report today.
Additionally, the
company continues to be in discussions with other interested
parties, but would like to attain the best terms on a deal for
itself overall, and unfortunately, some of the larger
pharmaceutical companies have goals that are too short-sighted
and/or have terms that are so skewed toward themselves, that a
partnership has not yet been struck. We believe that it is
appropriate given Advicor's approval on December 18, 2001 for Kos
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to maintain favorable terms for itself in a
partnership agreement given that it has done all of the legwork
and now has an important new product approved.
We are particularly surprised in the case of Bristol Myers Squibb
Company that they did not come to favorable terms with Kos
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. given the apparent loss of protection on
its Glucophage franchise, questionable strategies employed in its
attempts to protect Taxol and other key products from generics,
as well as BuSpar pressure from generics. Additionally, with a
poor earnings outlook for 2002 and recent product delays, as well
as a pipeline that is a 2003-and-beyond story if everything goes
as they hope, we believe that this could have been a lucrative
move by the company. |
