Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
A durable but unspectacular oncology bolt-on — Erbitux and Cyramza both still sell 15+ years later, but neither became a blockbuster and the $6.5B price was never validated by a matching return.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →BMS, which co-markets Erbitux in the US, declined to top Lilly's $70/share bid (vs its own $62) and committed to ongoing collaboration with the new owner.
C&EN headlined 'Lilly to Pay Big for ImClone' — flagging the 51% premium over pre-bid price and 9% drop in Lilly shares on announcement as evidence of Wall…
Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.
All 4 sources with sentiment breakdown →
Eli Lilly acquired ImClone Systems for $70 per share in cash, approximately $6.5 billion, after Bristol-Myers Squibb (ImClone's existing Erbitux co-marketing partner) declined to match the bid at its own $62-per-share offer. Lilly cited Erbitux and ImClone's broader oncology pipeline as the rationale for what it called one of the leading oncology franchises in the biopharmaceutical industry; the 51% premium drew some Wall Street skepticism, with Lilly shares falling roughly 9% on announcement. The deal closed November 24, 2008.
A durable but unspectacular oncology bolt-on — Erbitux and Cyramza both still sell 15+ years later, but neither became a blockbuster and the $6.5B price was never validated by a matching return.
Assessment window: 15yr post-close.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly and Company / ImClone Systems Incorporated (this deal) | 2008 | $6.5B | 61 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH | 2011 | $444M | 89 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Loxo Oncology, Inc. | 2019 | $8.0B | 88 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Applied Molecular Evolution Inc. | 2003 | $400M | 88 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / ICOS Corporation | 2006 | $2.3B | 87 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Novartis Animal Health | 2014 | $5.4B | 70 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Incyte Corporation | 2009 | $755M | 69 |