beartrap, I personally think that a strategic partnership with a company that possesses extensive cell therapy expertise, resources, and infrastructure, that shares the vision of personalized immunotherapy, would be ideal to help develop DCVax to its maximum capability, in the quickest time. This might also be the most lucrative path for investors in the long run, but it does not matter what we want or think is best for the company. It has been my experience that most investors have a shorter-term view. I agree that Northwest Bio is still early in development, but it has taken them so long just to get to this point, that most investors probably thought they’d be much further along in their development by now, when they bought the stock (I certainly did).
If a reasonable buyout offer is made for the company, management and the Board of Directors will meet to discuss and evaluate it, and hire an investment bank to seek the best offer they can, even from other companies; it’s their fiduciary duty. If a reasonable buyout offer is presented to shareholders in the next year or so for a vote, I think the majority would probably accept it, even if it’s lower than most of us want or believe the company is worth. If that’s the case, then the company will be sold, regardless.
As most NWBO investors know, Northwest Bio’s technology platform is disruptive, and I would think that many BioPharma companies would like to own it, while others may view it as a threat. So it seems likely, that if NWBO is in play, there will be more than one company interested in making an offer. If, as you say, a less desirable BP like Roche, with a vested interest in their own competing cancer drugs, (that potentially might slow-walk DCVax development) were to make an offer, it would have to be considered along with any other offer received. I think that the more a company has to pay for Northwest Bio, the less likely they would be to shelve it though. Even with Roche’s resources, it’s one thing to bury a $1B buyout, but it’s quite another for a $25B+ acquisition.
As you also note, DCVax can be combined with many other treatments, and it may actually extend the patents on some of BP’s other drugs. Merck for example, doesn’t have a lot of competing drugs, but it has Keytruda, the best selling cancer drug in the world, that actually complements DCVax, so if a company like that were also to make a competitive offer, that offer would likely be preferable to management and the Board, and it would be the one recommended to shareholders.
I’m not advocating for a quick or low buyout, just relating my experience and opinion. I’ve invested in stocks for over 25 years, and have owned dozens of companies that were acquired, most for much less than I desired or thought they were worth, despite my no vote. One year, 4 companies that I owned were bought out, which I had not planned for, and I got crushed by taxes. It happens. I’m quite certain though that a low-ball offer will not be entertained, and I have confidence in Linda Powers, that if a buyout is recommended by management, it will be for a reasonable price, and to a company that will help DCVax reach its full potential.
