Golfho, if Merck likes playing combo with PS Tageting.... is it possible that Peregrine and Merck has on the record partnering talks in the past and possibly Merck was slow playing Peregrine ( not that Peregrine was complaining since they required time to maximize manufacturing capabilities ...etc and another year of cheap stock options....etc ) but the time is near and I would guess a partner like Merck wanted a guarantee of owning x % of PPHM ( which would have been discussed in the past with Peregrine....) and it may not look good on Peregrine's part to rs and then hand over a large amount of the Authorized shares ( which were not slated to be split adjusted like all current outstanding shares....)....
Maybe with proof of concepts and Avid ..etc they are mighty close to thresholds where a pre-arranged deal may take place or even a pre-arranged deal for exosomes ..etc (heck even Merck just went public with United Healthcare for "pay for drug performance..." and it could be that some BP like a Merck needs to settle some insurance deal before a Peregrine deal is finalized.
No matter what the situation, Peregrine legal advised Peregrine to declare a rs is not in the best interest of current shareholders...
Which always goes back to my original long thought out scenarios where the rs is only going to benefit Peregrine's future partner and Peregrine has something on record that would make this move unethical and if scrutinized enough likely illegal