The discount isn't that significant IMO. Institutions generally speaking are focussed on quarterly performance. A few value players might have a longer term focus (a year or two). It's not uncommon to offer a significant discount to make it attractive to investment managers. In this weak interest rate environment, a ~10% gain is pretty good provided there's liquidity to soak up the shares. So there's a bit of slack with CDYs offer. Given CDY's poor liquidity the larger discount reduces the investment managers risk and locks in a fairly decent short term return.
Another company I was invested in (ANO - Advanced NanoTek) was in a very similar position to CDY 7 years ago. Its breakthrough product Zinclear - "Invisible Zinc" was expanding to the US (distributed by Dow Chemical) with sales growing nicely. However the company didn't have the funds to take the product to the next level. In 2011 it offered up shares to its largest holders - with a 'significant' discount. The discount was around 70-75%. https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20110822/pdf/420jwb7xkxh9nf.pdf
So compared to CDYs discount it ain't that big a deal.
ANO is in a good position today and is cash flow positive. But it doesn't have sh*t on Cellmid. Cellmid's market and technology is vastly more advanced IMO. A ~$9-10M book build isn't to create a couple of flashy stands at Bloomingdales. Maria is going for the knock out punch. Despite not knowing all the facts, I'm quietly confident in CDYs future.