Icahn and Cornelius trade notes, barbs

Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Jim Cornelius (photo) and ImClone Chairman Carl Icahn were in a letter-writing mood yesterday. In his second of two notes to Icahn, Cornelius expressed his disappointment that ImClone rejected BMS's offer "without discussing its merits with us and our advisors." He also laid claim to Erbitux's successor, IMC-11F8. "Bristol-Myers holds the exclusive, long-term marketing rights in the United States to Erbitux and related compounds, including IMC-11F8. Bristol-Myers has no intention of agreeing to any modifications to these rights," Cornelius asserted. He's clearly unhappy with Icahn's talk of possibly restructuring ImClone, which would separate it's Erbitux business from other drugs in development.

Icahn, never one to stay silent, responded with his own letter late yesterday: "I received today's letter from Bristol and don't understand your point," replied Icahn. ImClone's Chairman complained that BMS made the offer without alerting ImClone of its plans, and that Icahn tried to reach Cornelius before it made its rejection of the bid public. Icahn summarily rejected Cornelius' claim that BMS has exclusive rights to IMC-11F8, stating that BMS's rights to the drug aren't clear. "With respect to a potential restructuring of ImClone, rest assured that we will act in what we consider the best interests of all our shareholders and not just Bristol," finished Icahn.

- check out Cornelius's letter
- read Icahn's response

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