Whitepaper Template

Investment Whitepaper Template

Structure for a detailed acquisition-assessment whitepaper. Produce clean markdown (headings, tables, blockquotes) — it is rendered to PDF verbatim by the generate_whitepaper_pdf tool, so formatting matters.

Use markdown tables for all quantitative comparisons. Use > blockquotes for the most important risk callouts. Do not invent figures.

CITATIONS: every material claim, figure, and table value carries an inline numbered footnote marker in Markdown footnote syntax, e.g. "14.7% weight loss[^venture]". Reuse the same short key for the same source; define every key under a final ## References heading (e.g. [^venture]: Phase 2 VENTURE 13-week results, Obesity, Jan 2026.). The renderer turns these into a numbered, linked reference list. Never fabricate a source, URL, accession number, or doc ID.

FORMATTING: write plain markdown only. Do NOT use LaTeX or MathJax math notation ($...$, $$...$$, \frac, \text, \ge, \gamma, etc.) — the PDF renderer shows it raw. Use Unicode symbols and inline arithmetic instead, e.g. "≥70%", "Fcγ receptor", and "Runway = $56.4M / ($22.6M / 3) = 7.5 months".

Acquisition Assessment:

1. Executive Summary

• 4–7 bullets: what the target is, the deal thesis, headline recommendation (Pursue / Pursue with conditions / Pass / Monitor), and the single biggest value driver and the single biggest risk.
• One-line Recommendation with a conviction level (High/Medium/Low).

2. Company & Deal Thesis

• What they do, lead assets, corporate stage, why they'd be acquired now.
• Deal-thesis archetype (platform / single-asset / tuck-in / distressed).

3. Scientific & Modality Assessment

• Mechanism, novelty, platform breadth, IP position, differentiation.
• Competitive class table (asset | company | mechanism | stage).

4. Clinical & Regulatory Assessment

• Pipeline table (asset | indication | phase | next catalyst | key risk).
• Trial design quality, regulatory designations, agency interactions, CMC.

5. Commercial & Market Assessment

• Addressable population, epidemiology, competitive landscape, pricing/ reimbursement outlook, peak-sales framing (state assumptions).

6. Financial Assessment

• Financial-snapshot table (metric | latest | prior | source).
• Cash runway calculation shown explicitly with the formula and inputs.
• Burn trajectory, dilution history, debt, valuation context.

7. Deal Structure & Risk Analysis

• Risk register table (risk | likelihood | impact | mitigation).
• Exclusivity/patent timeline, encumbrances, integration considerations.

8. Valuation & Comparable Transactions

• Recent comparable M&A deals (target | acquirer | value | premium | date).
• Rough valuation framing; label all assumptions clearly.

9. Recommendation & Conditions

• Restate recommendation, conditions precedent, diligence follow-ups, and the key questions to resolve before term sheet.

10. Confidence & Information Gaps

• Explicit confidence statement (High/Medium/Low by pillar) and the biggest information gaps.

References

• Define every footnote key used above, one per line ([^key]: full citation with the most specific locator you have). The renderer renders these as a numbered, linked reference list — do not also hand-write a separate bulleted source list.

Footer note is added automatically by the renderer. Keep total length proportionate to available evidence — do not pad sections with speculation.