Erbitux clears late-stage hurdle for lung cancer

ImClone once again is feeling the tonic effects of positive trial data. Its stock price took off this morning, rising 19 percent after its European partner, Merck KGaA, reported that Erbitux helped increase the survival rate of lung cancer patients. The data may help clear the way to a new approval with blockbuster potential. The trial volunteers were diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and divided into two groups that received either a combination of Erbitux and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. Last July Erbitux failed a separate late-stage study as a treatment for lung cancer.

Good news for ImClone and its U.S. partner, Bristol-Myers, was bad news for Genentech, which saw its share price clip on the news of a potential competitor.

- see ImClone's release on the trial
- read the AP report

ALSO: Repligen says that ImClone has agreed to pay $65 million to settle patent infringement charges related to Erbitux. Release

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