Half-A-Loaf Dilemma

Cephalon Inc.'s board is evaluating the two options in last week's hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.: take the $5.7 billion in cash for the whole company, or take $2.8 billion for the non-oncology assets and retain a rump company that would contain the cancer products.

Choosing the latter would require convincing shareholders that the cancer assets, three of which have the potential to be first in class, will offer a competitive ROI over much more advanced programs in competitors' pipelines...