Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

VRTX:

I think we can safely assume now that Graves's resignation for unstated reasons a few weeks before the annual AASLD meeting was curious indeed but no longer bearish.

Are we absolutely sure of this?

We do now know that Graves didn’t leave VRTX just before AASLD because of anything negative in the C208 study. Moreover, it’s been reported through the grapevine that Graves thought he was in line to become CEO upon Boger’s retirement and was blindsided by the BoD’s selection of Emmens.

Still, it seems odd that Graves would abandon one of the highest-profile jobs in the biotech industry without something else lined up, and it’s conceivable that there are skeletons in the Telaprevir closet that influenced Graves’ decision. We won’t know for sure until some time in 2011, when the FDA convenes an advisory panel for Telaprevir.