It appears that Aurora was hired by the majority owners (Orion, Illinois, Samyang) with the likely goal of finding a buyer for Cortex's assets. This would allow the 3 owners to salvage some of their investment.
Varney had already scoured the pharma world for potential partners/buyers, but he may not have been very receptive to lowball offers that would have meant the end of his job. With Varney gone, the 3 owners can take whatever low offers are out there.
Another possibility is that Aurora will arrange a financing to recapitalize the company and put in new management, with the goal of making Cortex an active bio company again, but this seems less likely. I doubt the 3 owners want to put more money into Cortex themselves, and raising $10-$20 mil with another party would just dilute the current 3 owners into minority positions again. I'm figuring Orion-Illinois-Samyang likely just want out.
If so, Aurora will be looking to sell off Cortex's assets, consisting of Dronabinol and the low and high impact Ampakine platforms. One factor that might be key in determining valuation is the status of the $5 mil in NIH funding for the Dronabinol Phase 2, and whether pharma buyers view this $5 mil as one of Cortex's corporate assets?
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