Investors cheer positive Erbitux trial

The markets are dancing with glee over Erbitux, the ImClone/Bristol-Myers cancer drug. ImClone and Bristol-Myers share prices both surged on news that the drug improved the survival rates of non-small cell lung cancer patients in a late-stage trial.

Shares in ImClone's European partner Merck KGaA also rose on the news, as analysts boosted predictions for European sales to $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion. The drug is already approved for sale in the U.S. and Europe for treatment of colon cancer, and head and neck cancer.

This new lung-cancer trial added Erbitux to a common European chemo regimen that includes vinorelbine and cisplatin. Two months ago, a similar-but-separate trial that combined Erbitux with taxane and carboplatin--two drugs commonly used in the U.S.--failed.

- check out ImClone's release
- see this report from MarketPlace

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