Merck KGaA files for arbitration against ImClone
ImClone (NASDAQ:IMCL) disclosed in an SEC filing that Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK) filed for arbitration seeking $10.4 million and other unspecified damages for an alleged diminution of value of the partners' deal for Erbitux cetuximab. According to ImClone, Merck asserts that as a result of ImClone's December 2007 settlement with Yeda Research and Development Co. (Rehovot, Israel), the pharma is no longer obligated to reimburse a portion of royalties ImClone paid to Yeda and sanofi-aventis (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) (See BioCentury Extra, Friday, Dec. 07, 2007).
Erbitux is marketed in North America by ImClone and Bristol-Myers (NYSE:BMY) and elsewhere by Merck KGaA, except in Japan, where the 3 companies co-market the drug. The chimeric mAb against EGFR is approved in over 60 countries for metastatic colorectal cancer and advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). ...