Companies meet and hold discussions all the time. Most of those discussions never lead to a collaboration or acquisition. It all comes down to acceptable terms. Excitement about what Missling said at the annual meeting is misplaced. He is a master of dangling a carrot and he knows from long experience that it works to keep shareholders hopeful and hanging in there. If or when a pharma deal is announced, investors will assess the terms and price the stock accordingly. Until then, it’s meaningless hype.