ImClone and Bristol: The Acquisition Fight Focuses on the Erbitux Successor
Executive Summary
ImClone chairman Carl Icahn wants Bristol-Myers Squibb to pay a lot more in order to acquire the developer of blockbuster cancer drug Erbitux. His argument: there's a lot more to ImClone than Erbitux, namely, a competitive follow-on. Bristol thinks it's already got the rights to that compound; Icahn apparently disagrees (and indeed Amgen wriggled out of a similar dispute over a follow-on with J&J). But a close reading of the Bristol/ImClone contract tends to agree with Bristol.
You may also be interested in...
Can BMS Deliver on Innovation?
In December of 2007, Bristol-Myers announced its commitment to become a 'next-generation" biopharma company, with a focus on biologics and specialty drugs. That meant it would divest its non-core non-pharma assets, improve productivity, bolster R&D, and make sure its financing was in shape-even as its peers were taking the opposite approach. Two years later, it appears to be successfully executing on its objectives for the first two stages.
Can BMS Deliver on Innovation?
In December of 2007, Bristol-Myers announced its commitment to become a 'next-generation" biopharma company, with a focus on biologics and specialty drugs. That meant it would divest its non-core non-pharma assets, improve productivity, bolster R&D, and make sure its financing was in shape-even as its peers were taking the opposite approach. Two years later, it appears to be successfully executing on its objectives for the first two stages.
The Golden Age in Cancer Medtech Investing
Short of investing in the kinds of products that must demonstrate five-year survival rates, the field of cancer offers many near term investment opportunities, and large markets to support them. As noted in US Disease Incidence and Prevalence, a report recently published by the Medtech Insight division of FDC-Windhover, like many diseases, the incidence of cancer increases with age. More than 10.8 million people in the US have a history of cancer; and in 2008, at least 1.4 million more people will be diagnosed. According to the Medtech Insight report, breast cancer has the highest prevalence rate, followed by prostate and colorectal cancers.