Sam Waksal, the disgraced former chief executive of US biotechnology company ImClone Systems, is due for sentencing today and could receive a jail sentence as well as significant fines.
Last October, Waksal pleaded guilty to insider trading company shares ahead of the US Food and Drug Administration's rejection of ImClone's application to market Erbitux (cetuximab), a drug for colorectal cancer licensed to Bristol-Myers Squibb and Germany's Merck KGaA. Ironically, ImClone now says it is in a position to re-file for approval of the drug later this year.
Waksal also tipped off family members to sell their holdings in ImClone and is alleged to have done the same for US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Added to the mix are two counts of tax evasion and charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, perjury and bank fraud. He could receive anything up to seven years in prison under US sentencing guidelines.