What I can tell you is that the process with potential partners has been going on for quite a while. I can tell you that a substantial number of partners has been updated permanently and as we are speaking our business development has informed everybody in the process about what we have disclosed today. There is going to be an opportunity Ravi and I will attend to JPM in San Francisco next week, we have numerous meetings with interested parties to provide an update face to face. So, this process has been ongoing, everybody is updated to the extend possible. So, we are best prepared. Are there parties, the big parties, who want to see study 8a results before they make the final steps? Absolutely. That is for various reasons. And we don’t have to discuss them in detail. Is it necessary, so are there other parties who might not wait for those 8a results? Is it necessary to wait for the 8a results? No. Because as you have taken from this call one study in TRS, the pivotal study design Ravi has just presented, which will be a gold standard study 12 months double blind placebo-controlled study in TRS, one study would do. So, what is the requirement for this study 8a? Well, we obviously want to see supportive results for a filing in TRS. Is it a must that these results are fully positive? No, not at all. Is it relevant? Oh yes, sure! If somebody would go for a deal ahead of those results, would he discount the payments or make it in milestones? Absolutely. So, I think that is to describe in a lot of complexity what might happen. Are we confident that the process might be very speedy once those results are out? Absolutely. Because everybody is up to speed.
Potential Pricing: The pricing is never the decisive force in the sales on those any psychotics. Where they really get the billion-dollar sales from is not an excessive pricing but it is a huge number of patience that will be using the drug. We would certainly advocate that the pricing should be supportive of a huge and fast spreading in the market of this compound but don’t forget we would be the one and only treatment alternative to all those 30 to 50 percent patients who are treatment resistant and have to take Clozapine but don’t want to take Clozapine. So we would be in a phantastic position to penetrate that market, that huge market, very quickly. And that is the discussion we are having with the partners, but if it should be globally licensed, then as you know, the final pricing decisions will be taken by the partner.
We have the options widespread. We have global partners looking for the results from study 8a to confirm their interest. We have regional partners who want to see the results or who are willing to discuss, and we have territories, like remote territories parties who want to have the local rights only. So, we are in a luxurious to have competitors, or lets say interested parties for all types of deals, and we are talking to parties that are interested in funding studies. So, in the best case we can pick the best option for our shareholders and the best option for the patients and the largest penetration. And that is something we enjoy. So ,lets see in the next weeks where that takes us.
You can rest assure that the company will not run out of cash because 2 or 3 months of cash are missing. So, discussions are ongoing. It is clear to us that our shareholders are very sensitive about dilution. And so there will probably not be a fundraising with material dilution because quite honestly the cost of the study and the cost to the market would be too much dilution to them. So, it is not a valid option for us. But if there is a need for 2, 3 or six months of additional cash runway, we understand that this company protects the value of its assets, its key assets, especially in the case of positive results. So, none of the parties we are talking to should speculate of us running out of cash. I guarantee. |