Biotechs To Dangle Data for Cash at Cancer Drug Meeting

An article in today's Bloomberg paints a pretty bleak picture with regards to the prospects for a number of cash poor small biotechs. For some of these companies, this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting will be their last attempt to obtain a much needed infusion of cash.
According to Steven King, Chief Executive Officer of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc.

"Failing to secure a development partnership, or to be sold outright, may force research delays and project shutdowns that can add years to the time it takes to bring a drug to market, or end the effort entirely...The current economy has made this the most important year, of all the years I can remember, for small biotechnology companies to get the attention of potential partners and investors at ASCO."

Steve Elek, head of Health-care Transaction Service for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC elaborates further that,

“Without access to capital, early-stage biotechnology companies are looking to sell when a year or two ago they would never think of it....Ideally they would be able to move along a little further in the process to maximize value, but the cash burn makes that not feasible for them. I expect to see a lot more biotech M&A activity over the next six to twelve months.”

Not an easy time to be a baby biotech.....