Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Sirna – AGN deal in AMD

Sirna (ticker RNAI ) ended down on the day today. Here are some possible reasons, which are mutually contradictory to some extent:

1. The deal has very little up-front money for Sirna ($5M). Investors may have expected more, considering that Sirna-027 is Sirna’s lead program and the drug is already in the clinic.

2. With AGN due to make most of the money if Sirna-027 succeeds, Sirna’s upside has been capped.

3. People don’t think an RNAi-based drug can compete with Lucentis, especially after ALNY and MRK dropped development of their AMD drug.

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I’ve never been a big fan of Sirna, and this deal doesn’t make me one.