Following last week’s sale of Neurosearch’s key project, Huntexil, to Teva for DKK 155 million, CEO René Schneider admits that it was the best offer they could get. He also concedes that there is not sufficient capital to continue the develop of the remaining projects in the pipeline, and says that a merger is among the possible options for the company.

“It was a natural continuation of the lengthy partnership negotiations with Teva. It resulted in an outright sale of the project. It has been on the cards for some time,” he tells Medwatch.

The best we could get

He stresses that it is a very good day for Huntington’s patients and their relatives, and that it is great to move the project into a framework where there is funding to get it developed.

“The actual price of the project, well, it was the best we could get. We recommend shareholders to accept that,” the CEO says and adds:

“I know that it was the best option for the project and for the shareholders. So I am fine with that. We have been through an extensive process to figure our options, and this is the best option.”

Looking at the options

Under the terms of the contract Neurosearch has to hand over the project to Teva within the coming 6 months.

“Running parallel with that, we will have to look at the options for Neurosearch in general and look at the remaining projects in our pipeline and the rest of the company assets, including a substantial tax asset, stock market listing and ownership shares in associated companies,” he says.

According to René Schneider, Neurosearch will conclude on that process sometime in the beginning of next year.

Insufficient capital

Does the sale give you sufficient capital to mature some of the other projects in your pipeline?

“Not in itself. I can’t see us continuing development of any of our current projects with the money we get from the sale of Huntexil. That being said, I can envision a range of other options,” he says, adding:

“We are a listed company with a huge tax asset, and of course one of the options is to merge with another company that could use the listing and the tax asset. But it's just one of a range of options.”

Do you see the sale of Huntexil as a step towards liquidation of Neurosearch?

“It might be. We haven’t concluded anything yet, and we are just starting to look at our options. I don’t want to speculate too much about where we’ll end up, because we haven’t made any decisions yet, and I cannot rule out anything in connection to that.”

- translated by Martin Petersen