to me it shows a tangible step in partnering discussion progress. if you look at just about any biotech company of note they will mention talking with prospective partners. sometimes you get the sense it is just lip service. to me this indicates they are actually doing it, and where they said they have recently stepped up efforts in this area this appointment is a way of contracting out part of the effort to a company where some others appoint a specific person to the role (who often don't provide any evidence of making progress).
looking forward to results in only a few weeks now. am happy the price has come up, but still a bit surprised it has not yet run further at this point. still not complaining about the shares I bought during the last capital raise earlier this, nor the others I have been quietly accumulating in the 4's from the start of the year onwards.