Any Big Pharma would be a logical partner for M118 insofar as: i) the commercial upside is large; ii) all Big Pharma have a cardiovascular salesforce; and iii) nobody has a competing drug.
I don’t think MNTA’s relationship with Sandoz (the generic-drug division of NVS) necessarily makes it more likely that the branded-drug division of NVS will want to partner with MNTA on M118. MNTA’s choice of a partner will boil down to which company makes the best offer, IMO.
Aside from speculation about the actual partner, any guesstimates on how much money MNTA may be able to garner in an up-front milestone payment from a partner given these trial results? $10 million? $30 million? Higher?
Also, I assume MNTA will seek double-digit royalties on sales in a partnership, at a minimum.