Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (GALT)

[biotech2010]

Two quotes from Dr Scott Friedman about trial results for drugs potentially treating NASH Cirhhosis:

July, 2016 regarding cenicriviroc (TBRA):
“Liver fibrosis is the most important feature of NASH and is independently associated with key outcomes including long-term overall mortality, liver transplantation, and liver-related events,” said Scott L. Friedman, M.D., chief, Division of Liver Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and CENTAUR study chairman. “The very favorable safety profile of CVC combined with the efficacy data underscore the potential of CVC to emerge as a treatment of fibrosis associated with NASH, at a time when there are no approved therapies yet for this growing epidemic.”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160725005384/en/Tobira-Therapeutics-Announces-Clinically-Statistically-Significant-Improvement

December, 2017, regarding GR-MD-02 (from the GALT Annual Meeting presentation):

Dr. Scott Friedman of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, a leading expert in liver fibrosis and hepatology and consultant to many companies in this space including us, commented to me last week that the data are “unprecedented in my view”. That’s right, unprecedented. This validates the statement that this is the first trial to show positive results in NASH cirrhosis.

TBRA was acquired by Allergan several months after these trial results and this quote for $1.7B.

Based on this quote from the same expert regarding GR-MD-02, shouldn't GALT be worth at least as much for an acquiring company as TBRA? GALT's current market cap is about $200M, 8X that is $48 per share. It seems pretty obvious to me that, given that there are other companies actively looking for entry into this market, that GALT's share price should continue to run up until a deal is consummated.