NanoViricides Inc. (NNVC)

[robi-1-kenobi]

I like your question, because I have been thinking about the same thing. I can run through my own thought process for you. Others may have some alternative takes on it.

So, antiviral nanoviricides are showing great early promise and the potential markets (plural) are absolutely huge.

Why wouldn't Big Pharma just swoop in - even now before pre-clinical Tox is done?

It is easy to think there must be some underlying risk not uncovered by the due diligence of those here on this message board and others touting NNVC.

Other folks here have covered the risk aversion of BP before further development flushes out any risks and sorts the wheat from the chaff. And some have described in previous posts that there have been some overtures from BP, but they didn't come close to properly valuing the probability of success and the future market value of the technology.

But in addition, Big Pharma may be having a hard time envisioning how NNVC and its technology would bolt on to their existing franchises. Most companies look for bolt-on adjacent technologies when looking for new business opportunities. This doesn't fit into the classic small molecule development as it is not a typical "drug" in terms of its chemistry or mechanism of action or ADME PK/PD. It also doesn't fit into biologics, as it is not a large molecule therapeutic protein and doesn't fit into CBER FDA regs or mechanisms of action. The viricide micelles are really a polymer chemistry that requires different resources and skills to synthesize, develop, characterize, specify, scale-up and test. Despite some work by BP on attaching PEG to therapeutic proteins, this isn't in the wheelhouse of a typical Big Pharma company and doesn't readily fit into their existing business franchises.

At the Big Pharma company, a specific executive in new business development has to stick their neck out and say:

"The future return is so great, we need to buy NNVC now. It will fit in our "X" franchise requiring the addition of "Y" resources we don't already have. And we will need to take all the pipeline products through all stages of development as that's not done yet. But -oh, by the way - the executives of NNVC understand its value and we will have to pay as if clinical testing is already complete - not just for FluCide, but also prorated for most of the other drugs in their pipeline."

That doesn't mean there isn't someone like that in Big Pharma who can see the promise and has the clout to buy it before it becomes even more expensive. But that would take some serious guts and power - at the risk of naysayers crying they overpaid. That kind of clout and power is usually set for base compensation with disincentives to bet big - even with a huge reward opportunity for the risk.