"The striking improvement in response rates seen in patients treated with Erbitux added to chemotherapy is of vital importance in Japan. High response rates mean significant tumor shrinkage, and studies show that this leads to increased opportunities for complete removal of the tumor and a higher potential for the disease to be cured," said Wayne Paterson, Managing Director of Merck Serono Co., Ltd, Japan. "This is of particular value in a country where cure rather than palliation is a primary treatment objective."

In Japan, Merck Serono began marketing Erbitux as a treatment of curatively unresectable, advanced/recurrent colorectal cancer on September 19, 2008. The development of Erbitux in Japan was based on a collaborative effort between Merck KGaA, ImClone LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Co.), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Merck Serono Co., Ltd. Japan and Bristol-Myers K.K. Merck receives 50% of the profit or loss from sales in Japan whereas ImClone and Bristol-Myers Squibb each receive 25% of the profit or loss from sales in Japan.

The incidence of colorectal cancer in Japan has increased nearly five-fold in the last 25 years, mainly due to westernization of the diet. With more than 95,000 new cases reported in Japan in 2002, it has become the most common cancer among women and the second most common among men, after stomach cancer.

SOURCE Merck Serono