Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

katie: BMY pulled out in 2001:

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=OXGN&script=413&layout=0&item_id=...

However, I do not think we can assume that BMY’s motive had to do with toxicity. Another explanation is that BMY was undergoing a corporate overhaul and was desperately searching for ways to inflate the 2002 EPS. (As we now know, BMY stuffed the inventory channels to give the appearance of robust sales.) Because CA4P was clearly not a near-term earning driver, it is possible that BMY’s decision to pull out was based on short-term financial considerations.

Then again, maybe BMY did see something in CA4P’s safety profile that was not to their liking. If you read the OXGN message board from that period (10/01), there were some posters who indeed thought that toxicity was the reason for the pullout.