Someone got outbid, and left in the cold. That someone sounds fairly desperate to acquire an HCV type asset.
Not an HCV asset per se, but rather a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor (commonly referred to as a nuke). IDIX is the only other company known to have an HCV nuke in clinical trials, but the asset is tainted and is somewhat encumbered.
“The efficient-market hypothesis may be the foremost piece of B.S. ever promulgated in any area of human knowledge!”