SG Cowen & Co. analyst Eric Schmidt
AP
Imclone Systems Shares Down on Report
Monday December 5, 1:50 pm ET
Imclone Systems Shares Fall After Analyst Forecasts Stiff Competition for Erbitux
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Imclone Systems Inc. slipped Monday after one analyst predicted that a competing cancer treatment may usurp U.S. market share from Erbitux in the next three to four years.
Imclone shares fell 81 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $31.69 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, after dropping as low as 7 percent this morning.
In a research note, SG Cowen & Co. analyst Eric Schmidt said that he expects panitumumab, a cancer drug developed by biotech companies Amgen Inc. and Abgenix Inc., to gain U.S. approval and launch by the third quarter of 2006. Combined with favorable clinical trial data and a less frequent dosing regimen, Schmidt believes that U.S. doctors will have an incentive to adopt panitumumab over Erbitux.
The analyst cited data where tumor growth was hindered by 43 percent in patients given panitumumab, comparable to Erbitux.
However, Schmidt said that panitumumab is given intravenously once every two to three weeks compared with Erbitux, which must be given once a week.
With the convenience of less frequent dosing and a lower incidence of infusion toxicities, Schmidt said that a majority of his sources estimated that panitumumab will grab 60 percent to 70 percent of the colorectal cancer treatment market in about three to four years.
Imclone sells Erbitux with marketing partner Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Both Erbitux and panitumumab are antibodies that inhibit epidermal growth factor receptor, a protein found on the surface of many cancer cells.
Annual sales of Erbitux, currently the only anti-EGFR antibody on the U.S. market, are around $450 million, and the U.S. market for the drug class is expected to grow to $750 million to $1.25 billion by 2008
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