"I think Erbitux is more of a treatment than we've given it credit for, " Venook says.

FORBES: ImClone's Next Hurdles: Cost And Competition

"With all of these agents, the real problem is that patients benefit, but it's really only 10% or 20% of patients who benefit, " says Venook.

FORBES: Puncturing The ImClone Hype

Venook will be heading up a clinical trial with Erbitux and chemotherapy in previously untreated patients for Bristol and ImClone, and that could help further answer questions about the drug's effectiveness.

FORBES: Puncturing The ImClone Hype

Until that information comes in, "I don't see a sea change in the approach to these patients based on this data, " says Alan Venook of UCSF, who is leading the comparative trial.

FORBES: ImClone Gets Targeted

Alan Venook , a noted oncologist at the University of California, San Francisco, who is the principal investigator of the upcoming trial, says that many doctors are still waiting for ImClone and partner Bristol-Myers Squibb (nyse: BMY - news - people ) to show proof that Erbitux is an excellent medicine.

FORBES: ImClone's Next Hurdles: Cost And Competition