Bosco,
Your comments are very creative and thoughtful, but I have a different interpretation about IMUL's press release. I've watched the biotechs pretty carefully now for several years. My interpretation is that IMUL realized it didn't have the cash to carry through on its Allervax program (I did these calculations for the board some time ago showing that IMUL, despite its cash hoard needed to raise money in a couple of years). Also, IMUL obviously had some technical doubts about its Allervax program and/or its ability to show efficacy. (Recall that none of the trial results to date were clear cut.)
The paragraph you quoted about the company's going forward with its vaccines for abuse and "recombinant proteins directed to the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases" (whatever that means) isn't very convincing. Recall that one of Marr's first moves was to shelve the cocaine vaccine in favor of concentrating on the Allervax program. And I've never seen any mention before of IMUL's pursuing serious work on anything other than MS and Allervax, so I doubt there's anything else there to commercialize. In fact, I believe they will be laying off most of the technical staff shortly to conserve cash--else, it will be awfully crowded in their HQ if they're putting most of it up for lease. (I've been there--it's not that big to begin with.)
So, IMUL, through its press release, is putting itself up for sale. Everything else in the press release is pure fluff. Ask yourself: why else would they be engaging H&Q? There's no other reason. They're out there, along with Autoimmune and a few others, cash rich and product poor, available to another Mass. biotech that wants their facilities.
Paul |
