Pharmaceuticals giant Eli Lilly, of Indianapolis, Indiana, seems to have beaten its rival Bristol-Myers Squibb in the competition for ImClone, a biotechnology firm based in New York. On 6 October, Eli Lilly and ImClone announced that they had agreed to a US$6.5-billion merger.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, also of New York, owns 17% of ImClone and has an agreement to market its blockbuster anticancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab), a monoclonal antibody. In July Bristol-Myers Squibb failed in a bid to buy the biotech company, offering $60 a share, when ImClone's shares were trading at around $40–45. A follow-up offer of $62 a share was also turned down. The Eli Lilly deal values the company at $70 a share.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is unlikely to bid again, so agreement with Eli Lilly is being seen as the endgame of the protracted wrangling over the company, Erbitux and promising follow-up monoclonal antibodies.