ImClone builds case for higher takeover bid

The executives at ImClone have been carefully crunching the numbers [1] for both its pipeline drugs as well as Erbitux as it builds a case that Bristol-Myers Squibb's current offer is far too low to accept [2]. Sources tell the Financial Times that the company could fetch $70 a share and that Erbitux alone may well be worth about $60 a share.

Much of the analysis is centered on ImClone's pipeline: five main cancer therapies in Phase I and II. The company has been particularly bullish about the prospects of IMC-A12 for prostate cancer. ImClone has been considering splitting up its R&D programs from Erbitux [3] as a possible alternative to a takeover.

"I would say we thought [the company] was worth $70 plus or minus," an industry source familiar with ImClone told the Financial Times, adding that he still felt the pipeline and infrastructure was "pretty interesting."

- read the article [4] from the Financial Times

Related Articles:
ImClone asks JPMorgan for deal advice [1]
ImClone buyout could founder over drug dispute [5]
Analysts: BMS lowballing ImClone [2]
ImClone plays hard to get, considers spin-off [3]
BMS bids $4.5B for ImClone [6]