Amgen's First Cancer Drug May Spark Price War With ImClone

Excerpt from our One-Page WSJ Summary:

FDA Approves Amgen Cancer Drug

Summary: The FDA approved Amgen's (AMGN) colon cancer drug, Vectibix, the California-based biotech company's first cancer drug. The drug, which goes by the generic name panitumumab, is for use in patients who fail to respond to all other treatments. The upcoming release of Vectibix, slated for October, has set the stage for an unusual and aggressive price war with Erbitux, a rival drug from ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL); Amgen plans to undercut its rival's price by 20%. Amgen Chief Executive Kevin Sharer believes the drug will generate as much as $2 billion in annual sales, an estimate that some analysts say is plausible, and others consider aggressive.
Related links: Full WSJ article • Conference call transcript: Amgen Q2-06 • Amgen Earnings -- Key Facts • Chart: Biotech Stocks - Annual Earnings Growth • ImClone Systems: Will It Benefit From a Dose of Carl Icahn?
Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Other competitors: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY), Merck (MRK). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome (PBE), Biotech HOLDRS ETF (BBH) carries a 25% holding in AMGN.

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