I'm thinking GTCB has decided their bargaining position has been damaged by the slide in share price and wait for a bolster from trial data with a bump in share price to negotiate a better deal. They were perhaps naive in alluding to the deal proceeds before it was a done deal.
I always thought the partnership deal was contingent on successful top-line phase III results. Why would any management team give GTCB $5 to $10 million upfront and have the trial fail two weeks later?
The delay in the partnership is directly related to the delay in completing the trial.