It seems a lot of us were caught off guard by today's announcement...myself included. However, upon reflection, I'm not sure this was all that unexpected. This summer, when Harvey transferred responsibility for the 534 partnership discussions, should have been a big clue that he wasn't going to seek a global development deal.
I always felt it was the company's intention to wait on the Rida final analysis and the $65 in milestone payments that would quickly follow NDA filings. However, with those results now pushed out several months, today's financing actually makes sense. It was either a secondary or a 534 partnership and Harvey has now made his intentions clear. Given the increased life expectancy of CML pts and the 30-50% who become resistant to current second-line treatment, I happen to like the decision to keep 100% of 534 even at the expense of today's announced dilution. How the market reacts tomorrow is entirely different matter but I, for one, will be glad the company owns 100% of 534 when the first data for pts with the T315I mutation is released.
