I believe that what's in the data will largely determine the offering price, and of course there will probably be some negotiations. I think the BLA would come together faster if a BP assisted with it's development. Certainly the BLA takes a lot of work, but if you were considering partnering with NWBO based on what you've seen, wouldn't you want to be involved with it's development.
Something we all need to understand is that a potential partner, under confidentiality, can see everything, not just what's stated in the TLD statement. While I believe there is at least a reasonable chance that the full trial data could be presented for peer review before the BLA submission, under confidentiality potential partners can be reviewing it for months. Note: The "S" after partner was intentional, more than one company my very possibly file confidentiality agreements with NWBO, while Merck may have the inside track, it would be great to get into a bidding war.
As a shareholder, I don't believe we'd be told that they're speaking with potential partners, essentially all we would get is an announcement that it occurred. I do know in some companies we were told that confidentiality agreements were in place, that may be required by the SEC, I don't know that there are any time limitations on such agreements, if Merck had one in the past, it may still be valid.
Gary
