Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

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Wildhorses, your experience rings true. When Roche bought controlling interest in Genentech in 1990 for $2.1 million, there was substantial internal back pressure within Roche’s management. Many felt that the $2.1 million was a waste of money. But there were a couple of ranking people with vision who argued that this deal would transform the future their rather staid old pharma.

I was reminded of the reticence around that historic merger when you wrote:

“...if a deal was close, a high ranking official in the big partner company was convinced he was making a good deal. Risk was acceptable and the chance for reward must be high. Big companies have all kinds of possibilities and opportunities. They strive to only pick the best of the best. To determine that they are indeed taking the best option available, deals are vetted extensively. And, it is a big effort to sell the deal internally.”

Can you imagine? Not being able to ‘see’ the nascent value in a bio-incubator like Genentech? I’d say it was more like the pharma deal of the century.

In fact, and in retrospect, Roche should have completely bought out Genentech in 1990. But they let the company run too long, and in 2009 they had to pay $46.8 billion for the remaining 44% of Genentech that they did not own.

Well we have a new century, and...

Bavi works brilliantly, and successfully targets all the solid tumor cancers that have, so far, been tested.

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