I assume that Tissue Therapies may have had some interest from big pharma in taking VitroGro to market given the outstanding clinical trials of the product. Notwithstanding this, TIS's management was ultimately not prepared to "sell its sole" for the "quick buck".
In my opinion, the deal with Quintiles is certainly the better route to prosperity for us shareholders, albeit one with a few "potholes" along the way.
Whilst not directly relevant, I was interested to read an article posted by Hoyland on the BLT forum (Post number 7890954 of 20/3/12). The article suggests that big pharma scuttled a Congress proposal for an accelerated FDA approval pathway for experimental medications.
As Hoyland suggests in his post, "Big pharma still want to call the shots". This paragraph from the article gives you an idea what I'm getting at.
"Senator Hagan's proposal would have been devastating to the big pharma R&D oligopoly. If small biotech companies could get their drugs tentatively approved after inexpensive phase 11 studies, they would have far less need to partner these drugs with big pharma. They could keep the upside themselves and attract far more interest from investors. Big pharma, on the other hand would be without its largest source for innovative new medicines- the small biotech farm team."
I think that the key to the Quintiles agreement is that Tissue Therapies will "keep the upside" from VitroGro sales rather than the "largesse" going to big pharma.
Regards
Goggo
TIS Price at posting:
37.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
