Good post, Reading the article the deal is for practically the whole platform ... 40% of the lead drug, 75% of unnamed successor and a Split on three more programs.
So can you imagine how much more money could Jounce got if they were to sign a deal much further along the line?
The question here is one of risk vs reward. ADXS is going for the big reward because they are highly confident the platform Works. So yup you move ahead .... reduce the risk of failure and ask for more money ... (well most here hope this is how it is supposed to work).
At the end of the day we do not have enough information to be sure no one wants to make a deal with ADXS or ADXS is simply not interested as of now.
Further reasoning for why I have concerns over ADXS getting passed up in H&N. Zach is one of the only people to provide write-ups on ADXS and he always provides good insights - this about BMY H&N which directly affects ADXS.