Bird in the Hand Calculus

If any development stage company could have gone public in the nascent IPO window, it was probably Proteolix Inc. Instead, its management and investors decided they were better off selling the proteasome company for a guaranteed 2X return now and contingent payments later that could boost that to 6X. The alternative was raising money plus finding a corporate partner, with no guarantee that the ultimate payback would be any better.

Since 2003, Proteolix has raised $142.1 million in three venture financings. Last week Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to buy Proteolix for $276 million in cash up front, plus up to $575 million in milestones...