Exit value; Telling questions

Having just sold one of his companies to Marion Merrell Dow and partnered another with Zeneca Group, Stephen Evans-Freke discussed with BioCentury his views on returning value to shareholders in biotech companies. In our continuing search for ways to explain The Clear Route to ROI, we think his comments on the basic arithmetic of value speak for themselves, and report them below without our usual embellishments. For more on the Clear Route concept, see last week's Commentary.

In Stephen Evans-Freke's analysis, two major changes have occurred since the 1980s. First is the coming crisis for pharma company P&Ls in the latter half of the 90s, as the paucity of breakthrough drugs in their pipelines plays out. That is the major leverage point for people trying to build value in biotech companies, he says. ...