If I were a BP considering the acquisition of NWBO, I would not integrate it into any current production facility. If I wished to take on all DCVax-L production, I would either purchase the facilities currently doing it, or build an entirely new facility. I would treat the company as an independently operating wholly owned subsidiary. Why? Because making individualized vaccines, storing them cryogenically and distributing them as needed is a completely different business than anything else any BP is doing.
Merck has been shown to be building a huge vaccine facility, but it's clearly for mass produced vaccines. Can you imagine integrating vaccines where one vial is for one patient and must be distributed individually at the time they're to be used for say one million patients in a facility that's also making specific mass produced vaccines by the millions. I believe the result would be chaos.
Any BP purchasing NWBO could bring in their own management, but keep it separate from their mass production vaccine and other product operation, these are very different animals.
Roche is probably the best example I've seen that purchases companies but keeps them operating as wholly owned subsidiary. Not only that, but Roche has also spun off companies like Genentech, always keeping a majority interest, they reacquired them. If they wished, they could do it again. I don't know that Roche is interested in NWBO, but it could be a good match if they were. I have no idea how many BP's have existing products that would be effective, like Keytruda, with DCVax-L. I would suspect that others besides Merck may want to partner with NWBO in new trials that combine DCVax-L with their products.
I'm frankly unsure, but I believe that after approval, if company X wished to run a small trial combined with DCVax-L and NWBO didn't want to co-sponsor the trial with them, company X could purchase DCVax-L for the patients in the trial. I don't believe this possible until DCVax-L is approved, but once it is, I don't believe the NWBO could say no to a company, or research institution running trials with DCVax-L they're purchasing in the commercial marketplace. That stated, I believe that after approval NWBO will be co-sponsoring many trials, and independently sponsoring a few.
Gary
Bullish
