"With AI these days doing amazing things...."

That's my biggest worry. Even before AI arrived on the scene, there was a danger BP could pump R&D money into epigenetics and take the lead. But with AI they now have a tool that can come up with hundreds of designer molecules, and then screen them in no time using robotic automated cell and biochemical systems to generate a short list. 

If Don is asking for an unrealistic price, BP is likely to put its money into doing just that.  They will certainly not give RVX the money to do BOM2 unless they are in total control. 

I cannot imagine why Norman Wong teamed up with Don - a man with no record of corporate success and zero knowledge of the science. He is totally out of his depth and either cannot see it or is too arrogant to accept it.