ImClone CEO asked for trading details
Congressional panel says CEO Waksal hasn't responded
By Ted Griffith, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 6:28 PM ET March 21, 2002
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- A congressional panel looking into the controversy surrounding ImClone Systems has asked for information about trading in the biotech firm's stock by CEO Samuel Waksal and his family members.
In a statement released late Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Waksal and his lawyers have, so far, not provided the information. An ImClone spokesman didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
The committee said it's looking for information on trading by Waksal and his family in the days before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refused to review the biotech firm's application to market the Erbitux drug as a treatment for colon cancer.
The committee said it's asking for the information in writing from Waksal after ImClone's law firm O'Melveny and Myers didn't comply with previous requests.
In a letter addressed to Waksal, and provided to reporters, the committee noted that, according to a New York Times report, Waksal's daughter, Aliza, sold nearly $2.5 million of ImClone's stock on Dec. 27, the day before the FDA rejected the application.
The committee said it's seeking from Waksal: "All records relating to your financial accounts or any financial accounts for which you have working control or power-of-attorney." The committee also said it's asking for information from the FDA about its dealings with ImClone (IMCL: news, chart, profile) and its pharmaceutical partner Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY: news, chart, profile).
ImClone's stock plunged after the FDA said it wouldn't accept the application because there was insufficient data about patients who took part in clinical trials of Erbitux.
ImClone and Bristol-Myers Squibb met recently with the FDA to talk about what they need to do to get their application to sell Erbitux back on track. It now appears that the companies may be able to answer the agency's questions by using data from a clinical trial under way in Europe.
The rejection of the marketing application triggered a barrage of shareholder lawsuits and government investigations into whether Waksal and other ImClone executives misled investors about Erbitux's prospects for a speedy approval.
Shares of ImClone closed up $2.01, or 8 percent, to $27.
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