RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (RSPI)

[neuroinv]

<<We would anticipate upfront payments here helping us move forward in 2009.>>

Given his caution about public statement, that's more than I expected him to say about deals-not-yet-signed. It is a step or two above what I expect as boilerplate--"We are hopeful that..."

It is a strong indication that they expect one or more to produce upfront money. But until one or more are signed, they can't be sure they'll get the $12-15 million they want, so financing stays on the table.

So far as due diligence is concerned: In pharma, that's the 'kicking the tires' part, which can involve not only going through all lab, preclinical, clinical data, but sometimes taking a compound into one's own lab to crosscheck results. A confidentiality agreement has to be in place, but companies like Cortex are always alert to the possibility that a company might conduct due diligence in order to get information for competitive reasons, not to complete a deal. Some initial term sheet discussions as to what might constitute a framework go into the decision of whether to let another company into your inner workings. But the real exchange of detailed term sheets usually follows the information gathering of DD. Most likely, they have more than one company, and companies may be at different stages: For example, one company might have started looking at term sheets, while another could have come in late and be running rats around a maze while marinating them in CX1739. Varney isn't going to say how many companies and what stage they're in, so 'due diligence' covers the process pretty generally.

NeuroInvestment