Eli Lilly has agreed to take over ImClone for $70 a share in cash, valuing the cancer drug maker at about $6.5bn and trumping an unsolicited bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The price represents a 51 per cent premium to ImClone’s closing price on July 30, the day before Bristol-Myers launched a $60 a share bid for the 83 per cent of the company it does not already own.