The primary risk for the options is that for some reason the...

The primary risk for the options is that for some reason the share price doesn't rise above the exercise price plus the purchase price of the option by the expiry date. So for instance if the share price rose to $1, the 80c options holders who purchased at 20c would get their money back while the shareholder who purchased at 40c would enjoy a 60c gain. A trader might prefer the options and cash out before the expiry date. A long term holder looking at it as an investment in a commercial pharma company might prefer the shares since they don't need to fund the exercise price, although they could presumably sell a portion of the options to do it.