Mar. 3 at 3:25 PM
$MCRB
The appointment of Richard N. Kender as Executive Chair and Interim CEO, is perhaps the loudest signal. You don't bring in the man who led Merck’s M&A and licensing efforts unless your primary objective is a strategic transaction. Unlike a permanent CEO who might fight to keep their job or their pet projects, Kender’s mandate is a "Liquidity Event."
Management specifically name-dropped Keytruda (Merck) when discussing the upcoming SER-155 irEC IST readout. Why mention the world’s best-selling cancer drug if you don’t already have a strong sense of how your data will look? It is an open-label IST, with an aggressive 15 day efficacy endpoint.
It looks to me they are actively grooming the company for an acquisition, like a calculated signal to a specific type of buyer.
lack of analyst Q&A in the recent call isn't necessarily a sign of disinterest, it is clear Q2 readout is the closing argument. Probably, preliminary readouts are already available in the data room for an acquirer.
