Apology accepted. "How do you, as a shareholder, feel about the...

Apology accepted.

"How do you, as a shareholder, feel about the company's managers telling you that the matter of how much cash the business needs, and over what time frame, and where such cash will be sourced, is not one for which it is appropriate to divulge details to the owners of the business?"

I feel let down as a shareholder. I recall during the conference call of exactly 2 weeks ago that SI said, in answer to the final question, which was a penetrating enquiry about the finance facility, "when we have these details at hand we will provide them to the market appropriately". Well, sure, there will be eventually a right time for that, but is it a "right time" from the company's point of view or a "right time" from a shareholder's point of view. The latter time has already passed.

This shareholder's view is that 2 weeks should have been enough. However, I admit that I know nil about the complexities of high finance and how long it takes to tie these things down. The jarring note for me is that during the call SI clearly said that the finance facility is sufficient to fund the phase 3 CHF trial through to completion. The tenor of his statement was that the finance is a settled matter ("is" sufficient). So why the delay about where it's from and what are the terms? One possible conclusion is that the pig is fighting against the lipstick. But maybe it's just very complex in the final detail.

In the event where a process is taking longer than a reasonable observer could expect I believe that a company should provide some info as to progress of the process. Commercial in confidence and negotiating position considerations justifiably inhibit release of information but the tenor of SI's remarks related above made me think the process has passed those stages.

We'll all be wiser any minute. Or day. Or week. It has not been done well. I am no way less supportive of the science and eventual success of at least some of the trials but patchy management and indifferent communication have made this investment less pleasurable and more anxiety provoking than it should have been. Some people are going to be very happy with their investment in stem cells some day. I believe that MSB is the best prospect for scientific success but the degree of financial success is uncertain. Let's hope that approaching announcements bring clarity to the latter issue, and in a happy way.