MV gave his ok. So here it is:
Dear Dr. Varney/IR,
I hold ~ 200,000 shares of Cortex and just wanted to follow-up on your progress in securing one or more partnership deals as indicated at the Rodman Conf. Do you still feel confident about securing/announcing a deal within the next 2-3 weeks? The orginal timeframe was given at 30-45 days, but working in biotech/pharma myself, I know these things often take longer than you hope.
Can we expect any upfronts as central to part of a licensing deal? Are you in talks with multiple companies or one company in particular? Also, are you looking at partnering just one compoun, or multiple?
I am particularly concerned about how the proposed doubling of authorized shares may impact the stock price and the company's long term prospects in the absence of any revenue-generating deal over the next few weeks. I generally refrain from contacting management as I know you are busy working hard on these items, but my investment in your company remains a substantial part of my portfolio and there has not been much feedback since the conference. Thank you in advance for your response. Please be free to call or email.
All the best,
........
Response:
Matt,
Many thanks for your email. I can not divulge any information to you which has not been transmitted broadly in a public announcement. I can reiterate what I have already been stated publicly that we have several discussions underway at various stages of development all related to licenses of our AMPAKINE® technology. These are clearly very important to the company and represent the highest priority within our business. When we can make a public announcement about any resultant actions, we clearly will, but it also will need the approval of the potential partner.
Regarding the increase in authorized shares, this is something we believe is critical to the future of Cortex. While we much prefer to get cash from a licensing deal and avoid going back to the markets, in case these deals develop too slowly, or not at all, we need to have an alternative available to move the business forward. We do not currently have sufficient shares available to undertake any financings. Having such a capability somewhat reduces the appearance of “absolute necessity” in the eyes of the partners with whom we are discussing licenses, secondly having such resources available can prevent the company from going belly-up. Both issues are important to Cortex and its investors. It should be obvious that we would prefer not to have to sell large numbers of shares for small financial returns, however, if such a move allows the company to put itself into a better position to complete or negotiate a licensing contract we need to have that capability. Clearly most people negotiating with Cortex know from our filings that we have serious financial pressures on us, and they logically will try to use that to their advantage. However, your vote giving us the approval for the increased authorized shares can remove much of that pressure and potentially enable us to complete a deal more expeditiously or buy the requisite time to do so. I hope my comments help.
I’m happy to answer additional questions on a periodic basis.
Regards,
Mark
