…they must be expecting to have to contribute a significant amount of money to development in a M118 partnership. or they're ready to move their own cancer compound forward and want the cash in hand to finish the planned trial(s).
It’s more likely, IMO, that the money is needed for MNTA’s FoB programs rather than M118 and M402.
MNTA has made it crystal clear that M118 will not be advanced without a partner, and M402 will not require large amounts of money for the phase-1 program. FOB programs, on the other hand, are big-ticket items that do require a lot of money if MNTA is going to advance them without a partner.
“The efficient-market hypothesis may be the foremost piece of B.S. ever promulgated in any area of human knowledge!”