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

To: Lel H who wrote (673)	5/4/1999 7:02:00 PM
From: synchro	Respond to of 1139

That's my sentiment too. The only way I see is if he uses stock to buy other companies. He must be really confident that he doesn't need to tap the market for secondaries anymore. The reason I liked ICOs was that I thought they are at the stage where further dilution is unlikely. Usually when a manager goes out for an acqusition, he must think that the acquisition has unusual investment merit. The flip side is, he must also be thinking that the existing investment in the company is inferior to what's out there. Put yourself in the shoes of a manager. If you think your existing investment will yield x%, would you dilute that by investing something that will yield x-5%? I don't think so. The market signal Rathman is sending is intriguing. It kinda makes you wonder about all these interminally long Phase II trials they have had that seem to go on burning cash forever.

To: Lel H who wrote (673)	5/4/1999 8:54:00 PM
From: DJ	Respond to of 1139

Rathmann has been quoted in recent months to the effect that many small deserving (good science) biotech companies are undercapitalized, yet are doing great science. His latest comment is consistent with this. I think he truly believes that there are biotech bargains out there that the bigger fish will find inexpensive. And if you look at his board of directors, his Wall Street connections, and his credibility with big pharma, he can raise money for any realistic deals that he wants to do. Given the small caps of so many biotech companies at the moment, I think we are going to see a flurry of acquisition activity pretty soon at these bargain basement prices. The question is: which ones have the good science that the guys with the capital will be looking for? Final point: Rathmann doesn't tease people. He's a straight shooter. Look for ICOS to buy somebody.