Bristol-Myers Squibb announced earlier today that its Board of Directors approved a deal to purchase ImClone for $4.5 billion. BMS already owns about 17% of ImClone’s shares and is ImClone’s US marketing partner for Erbitux, a monoclonal antibody treatment for colorectal and head and neck cancers. BMS bought Kosan Biosciences earlier this year for $195 million.
The ImClone offer comes after an announcement late last week from CEO Jim Cornelius who said that there will likely be more job cuts at BMS to keep pace with the company “productivity transformation initiative.” Earlier this year, BMS sold ConvaTec, its wound care and medical device subsidiary for $6.5 billion which will likely provide BMS with the monies necessary to complete the ImClone purchase.
The acquisition makes sense for BMS because of its campaign to re-invent itself as a “next generation biopharma company.” Currently, BMS’s biotechnology roster consists of only two drugs: Erbitux (which was developed by ImClone and licensed by BMS) and Orencia a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. That said, BMS has several monoclonal antibodies and other biotechnology drugs in its pipeline. I think that the purchase of ImClone makes BMS more attractive as a takeover target for Sanofi-Aventis or another major pharmaceutical company itching to get into the biotechnology frenzy.
BMS’s purchase of ImClone closes the book on a steamy and oft times nefarious drug development saga that I assume both companies would like to forget. As you may recall, in 2001, Peter Dolan, then CEO of BMS, cut a questionable licensing deal (and made a $2.0 billion investment in ImClone) for marketing rights to Erbitux. At that time, Sam Waksal, one of ImClone’s founders, was CEO of the company. Shortly after the deal, BMS researchers discovered that the clinical trials data that were used to convince BMS that Erbitux was a treatment for colorectal cancer were flawed. Because of this, BMS was forced to invest hundreds of millions of dollar and spend several more years before it would ultimately win regulatory approval for Erbitux. Meanwhile, before the deal was finalized, Waksal, seeing a huge financial upside, engaged in insider trading of ImClone’s stock. Later, he disclosed that he needed the money to cover the enormous debt that he incurred because of his high profile NYC lifestyle. Ultimately, Waksal and his close friend Martha Stewart plead guilty to insider trading of ImClone stock and spent several years in prison.
Ironically, the acquisition of ImClone by BMS is something of a vindication for former CEO Peter Dolan. At the time that Dolan cut the deal with ImClone, many Wall Street analysts and industry insider thought that Dolan paid an excessive amount for Erbitux which was clinically unproven. Ultimately, Dolan was ousted as CEO after it was learned that he cut an illegal deal with Apotex, a Canadian generics manufacturer, to delay release of generic versions of its anti-clotting drug Plavix (co-marketed with Sanofi-Aventis) after expiry of Plavix patents in 2010.
The BMS-ImClone deal is one of several big M &A deals that have recently taken place as a result of financially-troubling times. Don’t expect consolidation in the pharma and biotechnology industries to subside any time soon!
Until next time….
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!
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