So I'm guessing the closing conditions of the deal said...

So I'm guessing the closing conditions of the deal said something like this..... In the event that the Phase 3 trial does not reach it's primary end point, Novartis has the right to analyse the full dataset prior to the contract closing. In the event that the dataset appears sub par, Novartis has the right to terminate the contract prior to the contract closing.

Hence..... no matter the real reason, so long as the press release match the closing condition that allowed Novartis to walk.... of course it's going to match.

Of course we will never know the exact complete reason.

In all likelyness when Remestemcell gets approved for GvHD, Novartis will start loosing GvHD market share. That loss will only grow bigger as Remestemcell moves to the over 12, and then adult population as is the case in Japan with JCR pharama.

Then you have the dataset from the ARDS that demonstrated a higher mortality for patients in the control group that recieved Novartis ' Dexamethazone..... As soon as I figured that out, I thought conflict of interest right away. Si tried to spin a positive by talking about the " symbiosis" of dex + reme...... but the elephant in the room was that this trial just demonstrated a higher mortality rate for control patients on Dexamethazone, than controlpatients off dexamethazone....... If you were Novartis..... what would you make of that?

Some people said maybe Novartis were stringing it along to delay the loss of market share etc....... maybe they were right...... maybe they thought the pandemic would be over in 12 months, but just to hedge their bets.....held off for the full analysis effectively stalling MSB from progressing.