Celgene @ 18 months

This week marks a little milestone in the Celgene-MSB negotiations: they have been going on for 18 months now.

One assumes the discussions must be very close to being finalised.

Sure, there are realllly complex issues being nutted out in the negotiations, but one must wonder after what stage can it be deemed that the discussions are inconclusive. After 2 years? 2.5 years? 3 years?

I've been scanning some recent Celgene announcements to see if I can come across Celgene possibly providing an update on the discussions with MSB. I've come up empty-handed (there is barely any mention even of MSB in Celgene commentary [*]), but if anyone else has come across something about this important relationship then I'm sure the HotCopper brethren will benefit from hearing of it.


[*] Not that any conclusions can be drawn from this (unlike cold-calling a trial center and asking if it is still recruiting patients, as proof of Teva's ongoing funding commitment). MSB might simply not be getting a mention in Celgene public pronouncements because Celgene doesn't want to give the game away to MSB about just how keen it is on partnering with MSB. Or, Celgene doesn't want to alert other potential partners to MSB for fear of being gazumped in a potential deal.