Yesterday's share price action mirrored the action last August when Boehringer coughed up the 25 mil. Sharp rise early followed by relentless selling to finish the day a cent higher. So you're right, with majority ownership in the hands of so few, divestment and accumulation still playing out, no reason for the share price to shoot higher.
26 cents seems the sweet spot for these practices to continue, BVF happy to buy while Allan Gray offload has been a theme of last two years. However, this will not go on forever. These institutions are not philanthropists and at some point will want to realise a decent return on their investment. My guess is that will occur via a takeover late 2018 with Boehringer the likely suitor. Should Boehringer successfully take Pxs' drug candidates through phase 2 trials they will be up for 62 mil euro to begin phase 3s. Small change for Boehringer admittedly but pretty much PXS market cap if it stays at these levels. Would not surprise to see Boehringer strike prior to end of phase 2's if they are comfortable with how things are progressing, one dollar per share might do it (still small change). Should they wait and phase 2's a success a bidding war may develop and anything north of $3 a possibility. Remember NASH still a 35 bill market with a number of recent drug failures only making something with a whiff of success more valuable to large pharma. Taking back ownership of the LOXL 2 program from Synairgen (a cash strapped tiddler) was a smart house cleaning move and it would not surprise me to find it was suggested to management by our larger holders.
Been a frustrating share to hold over the years, gone nowhere in a steadily rising market, but now is not the time to sell imo.
PXS Price at posting:
27.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
