NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[biosectinvestor]

Advent does not own the space or the technology. Cognate does not own or have any part in Flaskworks. Neither company does. Cognate was the source of immense, low cost funding until shorts saw the vulnerability in the most favored nation clause arrangement and unspooled that financing arrangement for NWBO.

The fact is, a lot of stories are told that are not exactly accurate. And the fact is that private equity companies often fund ancillary and supportive companies in areas that do not make sense for the primary company. It’s not a huge margin business to be the CRO, in fact, and while Cognate sold for what, a billion, that is not the real value here, it’s a distraction.

As for Advent, it really holds the human resource costs and employment risks, and not a lot else. It’s a nice way to basically isolate those costs and risks away from the IP value center here, which ultimately holds all the value and reduces the downside risk in NWBO, at least in terms of expenses.

So I don’t agree. I think it has consistently been a master stroke of planning and structuring to host those costs and the minimal upside of the CRO away from and at arms length from the Crown Jewels here.