The spin off of PDL BioPharma’s biotech assets is approaching, and a well-received development deal signed last week with Bristol-Myers Squibb over a phase I antibody, elotuzumab, indicates that the new, as yet unnamed company will not fall off the radar screens once it goes it alone.

What is left of PDL, a business collecting royalties on drugs such as Avastin, Herceptin and Tysabri, has essentially been up for sale since April, with both Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch hired to work on “monetising” the assets for shareholders. The bankers have not found a buyer yet, but two important FDA approval decisions on the horizon have the potential to swell the coffers further, and might help persuade interested parties.