One of the most interesting sections of the article I just posted was the notion that management's request for 25M shares is possibly associated with their knowledge that a buyout offer will likely arrive after approval.

It is true that Dr.NP couldn't stop talking about the five big pharma companies allegedly waiting for results -- and then that topic curiously fell silent.

It may be that management has come to terms with the utility of selling-out sooner rather than later, and at a price that is lower rather than higher, and they are therefore seeking additional shares to compensate for the haircut in potential buyout earnings.

This isn't a completely novel concept, but Thomas frames it in an interesting way that suggests that a big pharma might be timing their offer to allow management to gain those extra shares, so that they are more supportive of a buyout.