Contingent Thinking

If investors had anything to say about the contingent value right that's presumably being discussed in the acquisition negotiations between Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ:GENZ) and sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY), they would want a hefty portion of it to pay out at regulatory approval of alemtuzumab for multiple sclerosis - rather than at the sales milestones that are being bruited about in the rumor mill.

Last week, the companies said they had signed a confidentiality agreement allowing sanofi to conduct due diligence as part of the negotiations. They also confirmed that negotiations include a CVR for alemtuzumab, now marketed as Campath for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)...