Analysts raise doubts on Erbitux ruling

The reverberations over yesterday's decision [1] to award ownership of the key Erbitux patent to two Israeli scientists continues to shake ImClone. The company has reportedly developed a three-prong strategy to fight back against the decision, with options to appeal as well as seek a license for the drug from Yeda Research & Development, the Weizmann Institute's deal-making arm. Analysts, meanwhile, denounced the ruling, saying it cast a new light on the work that academic groups are doing for biotech companies. ImClone downplayed any worst-case scenario, noting that any new royalties that might have to be paid out would be small. But analysts highlighted their concerns over the company's ability to withstand a hit like this on its only product, and Bristol-Myers was assessing the impact on its 20 percent stake in the company.

- read the report [2] on Erbitux from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

PLUS: Amgen, meanwhile, lost little time in acquiring the Erbitux patent from Yeda. Report [3]