ImClone 'Eager' for Erbitux Data Release

Has your overall positive outlook on ImClone changed?

No, it hasn't. I'm anxious about the stock's weakness, and I want to see the darn data already, but I also remind myself that ImClone's ASCO 2008 experience acts and smells very much like that of Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX Quote) in 2007. That turned out very well for Onyx, if you recall, even though it took some time for investors to get fully on board.

ImClone, for well-understood reasons, is always going to carry more baggage than many biotechs. Heck, I'm as guilty as anyone about being wrong and too negative on ImClone for too long.

Last thing, Harr's $38 price target on ImClone: Why does that price sound familiar?

Good memory! ImClone closed at just under $38 a share on Sept. 10, 2007. The next morning, Germany's Merck KGaA announced that the FLEX study was positive, sending ImClone shares higher. Now, at that time, Harr had ImClone at an equal-weight rating, so he probably thought ImClone at $38 was expensive without the lung cancer opportunity.

But the market last September thought otherwise, so one could argue alternatively that Harr's new $38 price target today gives the company zero value for any Erbitux lung cancer revenue, nor does it place any value on the company's pipeline or its brand-spanking new manufacturing plant.

That doesn't sound right to me at all.