Little thought required

Acting to salvage its $100 million investment in Centocor Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. exercised its option on CNTO's CentoRx monoclonal antibody. However, the decision to exercise the option was obvious, and gives no hint of what direction Lilly's two-week-old management might take with its extensive portfolio of biotech collaborations.

According to their July 1992 deal, Lilly would get rights to CentoRx if CNTO's HA-1A sepsis MAb wasn't approved by the end of 1993. At the time of the deal, Lilly spent $50 million for 2 million shares of CNTO stock at $25 a share and paid an additional $50 million for HA-1A expenses. CNTO closed at $7.75 on Friday. CNTO suspended the HA-1A trial in January after evidence of excess mortality in the treatment group...