ATL,
I think you're right on the money in terms of what could happen if a buyout is in the cards. Personally I'd prefer a partnership, and while what IMCL did with BMY in the Erbitux partnership was a nightmare, the basic structure was one that could work well here. If you remember back when Martha Stewart and Sam Waksal were arrested for insider trading and parts of the partnership were rescinded because of lies IMCL stated wrt what the FDA was telling them, the basic partnership had BMY taking both a 30% interest in the company, and a 30% interest in Erbitux specifically.
If NWBO wanted to bring in a massive amount of funds, selling a BP a percentage of the company and a percentage of DCVax-L should bring in many billions, even if dilution is limited by say making half the shares they're acquiring coming from investors, rather than newly issued shares from the company. A percentage anywhere from 10% to 30% would be sufficient for the BP to gain at least one seat on the board, more than that if they went for the greater percentage. At anywhere near 30% the BP partner would effectively be able to be in control as in a shareholders vote they almost cannot be defeated.
In such an arrangement L.P. would still be in control, but the BP partner would have a great deal of influence, and should provide a great deal of support. When L.P. wished to leave, or take a lessor role, the BP would probably supply her replacement. Perhaps most importantly, in such an arrangement the company would continue to trade independently and could grow tremendously, especially if DCVax-Direct is approved for many cancers and DCVax-L label is expanded into other cancers. The growth in the stock price could well ad more equity to their BP partner than if they purchased the company and brought the products to market themselves.
Gary
