Biotech Notebook: Xoma, Medivation, Delcath

Xoma(XOMA Quote) CEO Steven Engle gave me a "no comment" when I asked him on Monday if the company had received any recent takeout offers.

That leaves plenty of room for interpretation, so I asked him again if he wanted to flat-out deny a tip I received earlier this fall that Xoma had, in fact, received a $5-a-share offer from a pharmaceutical company.

Xoma, I was told, rejected that offer because the company felt it wasn't high enough.

Engle's response: "No comment."

I didn't write anything about this alleged offer after I heard about it because the information didn't seem solid enough. I bring it up now, however, because Xoma's revamped business strategy, announced Monday night in what seemed like a hastily arranged conference call, suggests that Xoma is going it alone.

Whether that's by choice or because the suitor that allegedly came a-knockin' is no longer interested isn't known.

Xoma shares closed Monday at $3. The stock is up 40% for the year, but has fallen from a high of $4.18 set on Oct. 15. The last time the stock had seen the $4 range was the summer of 2004.

There is a case to be made for a Xoma takeout. Like PDL BioPharma(PDLI Quote), which has publicly announced that it is seeking a buyer, Xoma has a technology platform to discover and make humanized monoclonal antibodies.