IMCL<------One of A@P's steadfast long picks is in high gear, here is the news that hit this morning, This isnt a P & D this is the real deal. We are BIG SHORTS so to get us excited it has to be good, really good.This one fits the bill.
The CEO<--is one UN hypey Guy, and he has every reason to believe that Merck of Europe is backing them for good reason.
BN ImClone CEO Rejected Several Offers to Sell Company (Update1)
Sep 2 1999 13:44
ImClone CEO Rejected Several Offers to Sell Company (Update1)
(Updates with closing share price in 6th paragraph.)
New York, Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- ImClone Systems Inc. Chief
Executive Samuel Waksal said he's rejected several offers to sell
his fledgling biotech company because he believes it will be
worth far more after launching its first drug, a cancer product.
ImClone said it hopes to file for U.S. approval of its most
advanced product candidate, an anti-cancer compound dubbed C225,
in the second quarter of next year. The drug is designed to
arrest development of cancer by blocking a substance dubbed
Epidermal Growth Factor receptor, which helps solid tumors grow.
Biotechnology companies are in the midst of the biggest wave
of consolidation since the industry was founded in the 1970s.
Large drugmakers and big biotech companies are hoping to keep
revenue growing by acquiring smaller companies with drugs that
are either already on the market or close to approval.
``We've been offered a lot of firm deals,' Waksal said in
an interview. ``There's no amount of money that somebody could
pay us right now that would give us the value for shareholders that we could get if we launched this drug. What we do after that
is up for discussion.'
He declined to say which companies have offered to buy
ImClone or how much they bid.
ImClone shares rose 2 9/16, or 8.6 percent, to 32 1/2 in
trading of 858,000, more than twice the three-month daily
average.
Waksal, a physician who helped found ImClone and has been
its chief executive for the past 14 years, is betting that
ImClone's market value will rise as the company makes progress in
bringing C225 to market. The stock has soared more than fivefold
over the past year as the company reported success in late-stage
clinical trials of C225.
The New York-based company has retained full rights to
market C225 in the U.S., the world's biggest drug market. That
means ImClone will get a bigger chunk of profits from the product
than is typical for biotechnology companies. |
