I don’t believe this whole matter was initiated by Pfizer. I believe it was initiated by the BOD.
I see this whole incident as a threat to the rest of the university sector in Australia.
All the universities in Australia have commercial arms and seek to have potential research results commercialised. In this case it is the University of Queensland and they have not been able to undertake the additional research necessary through the Government funded research and grand schemes available. As a result they have gone to the capital markets to finance that additional research - the clinical trials.
We shareholders have funded this research because the University of Queensland, and the Governments, did not or were not prepared to fund these clinical trials.
Having funded the research we are now being dumped.
We are being dumped in a circumstance where the offer is clearly understated and excludes many factors such as the potential as a Covid disease diagnostic. The company’s Scientific Panel would be very much aware of the deficiencies in the Report I have referred to in other posts (see link below for example) including that the significance of this disease diagnostic potential has not been referred to by the company.
It was never necessary to employ this Scheme methodology and I believe this was the BOD’s choice and at their initiation.
Pfizer could have taken a major stake in the company by a standard on-market takeover offer. Enough I am sure to be able to control the company if not fully take it over.
If the capital markets see the universities acting in this manner it will be difficult for their commercial arms to obtain funding through this mechanism.
I see the circumstances of this ‘takeover’ as representing a precedent that potentially has substantial adverse consequences for the rest of Australia’s universities.
