26 octobre, 2006 16:40
ImClone CEO resigns, Carl Icahn named chairman
Last Updated: 2006-10-25 14:53:20 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Toni Clarke
BOSTON (Reuters) - The board of biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. has ceded control to Carl Icahn after a bitter battle in which the billionaire investor accused the company of failing to properly develop its cancer drug Erbitux.
New York-based ImClone said on Wednesday its interim chief executive officer, Joseph Fischer, has resigned and Icahn has been named chairman of the board. Three directors Icahn had sought to remove will not run for re-election.
A newly formed executive committee, chaired by Icahn associate Alex Denner, will serve as the principal executive body for the company until a new CEO is found.
"This marks the beginning of new ImClone, characterized by decisiveness, excellence and accountability," said Denner on a conference call with analysts.
ImClone's shares rose 2.6 percent to $30.20 in mid-afternoon trading. They have fallen roughly 65 percent since mid-2004.
Still, some analysts are skeptical that the new leadership can do much to alter the fundamental challenges facing ImClone. Erbitux, ImClone's only marketed product, now faces a formidable new competitor in Amgen Inc.'s Vectibix, which was launched barely two weeks ago and is already gaining ground.
"ImClone is in a world of hurt and I don't think any new management team can fix what is endemic to this company, which is that they have a drug that is going to be eclipsed by Vectibix," said Eric Schmidt, an analyst at Cowen & Co.
ImClone said on Wednesday that third-quarter sales of Erbitux rose to $174.6 million from $107 million a year earlier. That was less than analysts had expected.
"It appears that sales of Erbitux may have reached a near-term plateau and that Vectibix will have some success in taking market share from an already flattening drug," said Brian Rye, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Rye said.
ImClone receives 39 percent of the sales of Erbitux, while its partner, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., receives the rest.
Even so, Icahn, who owns roughly 14 percent of ImClone, believes Erbitux can compete if developed and marketed more effectively. And some analysts say he may be right.
"Icahn has been right more often than he has been wrong and he obviously thinks there is a great deal of potential for this drug," said Nell Minow, editor of Corporate Library, an independent research firm specializing in corporate governance. "So far, people have not lost money betting on Icahn."
Denner said the company's first priority is to find a new chief executive with experience in biotechnology. He said the board has several candidates in mind but that it could take time. And he said the board has no plans to sell the company.
ImClone tried to sell itself earlier this year and failed. In September Icahn and three of his associates were elected to the board. In short order they pushed out the chairman and reformulated the board.
"What you've seen is positively Darwinian," said Minow. "The predator comes in and, since he is stronger, takes over."
Part of ImClone's recovery process, Denner said, is to strengthen the company's relationship with Bristol-Myers to help compete with Amgen, whose drug is priced at a 20 percent discount to Erbitux.
ImClone is hoping that Erbitux, which is currently approved to treat colon cancer and head and neck cancer, will prove effective as a treatment for pancreatic and lung cancer. Data from several late-stage trials is expected later this year and next year.
Even if the results are positive, however, they may not be enough to block Vectibix, Schmidt said.
"Everywhere Erbitux goes Vectibix will eventually go as well," he said. "Icahn can probably begin to correct what has been wrong, but unfortunately the window may have passed for it to matter."
