Enzon: The Perils of Profitability

Profitable but pipeline-poor Enzon tried to build a road back to R&D. But its value-oriented investors wouldn't support the spending ambitions, particularly as their royalty income declined. Enzon tried to merge with NPS, a pipeline-rich unprofitable company, hoping to transform its conservative shareholder base for one looking for biopharma-type home runs--but there too ran smack into the immovable force of investor inertia.