Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP): What's Next?

Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) is grabbing headlines at the moment on the back of a so-called restructuring announcement. The company is set to shuffle things around, which is likely going to result in a spinoff of one of its major assets as a separate entity, and markets look to be struggling to put together a solid interpretation of what's happening, and what it might mean going forward.Here's our attempt to simplify things.So, for those new to Immune, it's a development stage biotechnology company that is trying to bring a few different treatments to market, in a variety of conditions. The two lead assets are a drug called bertilimumab, which is currently under investigation as a potential therapy for moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis as well as for bullous pemphigoid, an orphan autoimmune dermatological condition, and Ceplene, which is an oncology drug that's under investigation as an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) drug.Much has been written about Immune over the last few months, and a large portion of it has been negative. The company has fallen foul to some seeming mismanagement, and has had to split in an attempt to maintain its NASDAQ compliance. It's still in the process of said attempt, and we just got word that NASDAQ has sent the company a letter detailing its non-compliance on another front – a late 10-K – and this hasn’t helped sentiment at a time when sentiment really needs a boost.Anyway, that aside, the restructuring is as follows:The company is going to basically break into two entities – one that will focus on inflammatory conditions and dermatology, and another that's going to focus on oncology. From an asset perspective, then, this means the two lead programs, Ceplene and bertilimumab, will be managed by two separate teams.The oncology program is going to be headed up by the company's former CEO, Daniel Teper, which many will see as a sort of double edged sword. Teper isn’t particularly popular with shareholders right now, and that he's no longer going to be in charge of the Immune ship, and by proxy the bertilimumab program, will likely be a welcome development for shareholders. That said, he's going to head up the oncology division, and this has the potential to really add value if it's managed correctly.Anyway, the most interesting element of the whole thing is that it looks as though Cytovia, which is the entity that is going to control the oncology program (and that Teper is set to head up) will be spun off as a completely separate company.The justification for something like this is that it will allow for the involvement of certain investors looking to gain exposure to indication specific programs – oncology, inflammation, etc. At a glance, that's a reasonably smart move, and one that could be beneficial for shareholders. It's limiting the risk of a program failure (in terms of impact on one holding spread across two programs, versus two holdings) and at this end of the space risk limitation is a priority.That's the positive side of things. The concern is that, if we do see a spinoff, there's no guarantee as to what proportion of the Cytovia entity will be attributable to the current Immune Pharmaceuticals base. Of course, current shareholders will feel they deserve a large portion of any spin off entity, and rightly so, but if Cytovia is to pick up financing on a spin off execution (and it almost certainly will) then said portion is almost certain to be diluted. In other words, Immune shareholders may end up with a greatly reduced exposure to Ceplene, just as it starts to develop into a potential value add asset.Right now, of course, nothing is certain. The future of the company as a NASDAQ stock is at risk, even post-split, and any guess as to a spin off share attribution is just that – a guess. That said, we may get some clarity when the 10-K hits, and we're set to see some sort of plan of execution in May. If it's positive, this one could run as sentiment shifts.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on IMNP, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in IMNP and have not been compensated for this article.