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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Biomaven who wrote (9462)	11/12/2003 3:51:58 AM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 52153

Peter >>Any idea what Lilly and Servier are thinking going forward without a license? Presumably a license only gets more and more expensive the longer they wait.>> Dr. Tracy was perhaps not quite clear there. Servier have actually got a license. It is through their financial "support" that Cortex has managed to survive over the last couple of years. They are however in the somewhat strange situation that they will have to pay royalties to Cortex once a product is on the market, despite the fact that it is their own product (S18986) that they will be developing. To understand what Lilly is doing is more difficult. Maybe they have felt that they should be able to wait to pick up a license until they have seen positive indications from their own phase II study. If their own drug doesn't work, there is less incentive to buy a license from Cortex. (They are also working on other molecules/indications). Once again the effect of the fact that Cortex does control the technology but not the molecules. Cortex has been and still is a very weak and undercapitalized company. Lilly might feel that they should be able to pick up the license when it suited them rather than Cortex. As Cortex has now started discussions with several other major pharmas (they say), Lilly's situation is however getting somewhat precarious. They cannot really afford seeing the MCI/Alzheimers North American license end up with one of their competitors. But with a drug in phase II and considering all the experience they have gained along the way, they most probably believe that they should have the best chances of surviving a bidding contest. It is as a matter of fact also in Cortex's interest to license rights to these indications to Lilly as they are by far the most advanced in their development of the ampakines. Erik