Eli Lilly to buy ImClone; mental health parity law included in bailout; promise in prostate cancer drug rallies shares; and more
For the week of October 6:
It’s official. Eli Lilly is the final bidder - at $70 a share - for ImClone, which will provide the drug company access to the biotech’s cancer drug Erbitux and its in-development cancer drugs. With pipelines becomes more and more narrow, oncology is looking like a lifeline for many pharmaceutical companies. The offer is $8 more per share than the summer bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb, ImClone’s marketing partner for the Erbitux.
Also:
Mental health advocates note the quiet passing of a new law, included in the economic bailout, requiring parity for mental and physical illness treatments for the first time.
Dendreon shares rally after the prostate cancer drug shows promise in an ongoing study.
A task force at the University of Minnesota recommended, internally, a ban on gifts from drug and device makers after the school received a ‘D’ from the American Medical Student Association for its policies last summer.
