Leave it to Carl Icahn to get things done. At the behest of the new ImClone chairman, the two drugmakers are expanding their existing investment in the Erbitux cancer med by up “several hundred million dollars,” and plan to add “numerous” clinical trials to find new uses for the drug, according to a statement.

The new studies will test Erbitux in tumors found in the brain, bladder, breast, lung, pancreas and prostate. ImClone shares had gained 70 percent this year as of May 9 on optimism the company would find more uses for Erbitux, which had sales of $1.1 billion last year, Bloomberg News notes.

ImClone has been going through convulsions over the past year. Last October, Carl Icahn - the famed corporate raider - took control and ousted the board and management in a messy showdown. As part of his justification, Icahn criticized the board for failing to support research to bolster Erbitux sales.

Bristol-Myers will pay for additional clinical trials, but only up to an undisclosed threshold, and any expenses after that will be shared by both drugmakers according to the statement. Erbitux has already been studied for colorectal, head and neck cancers.

For his part, Icahn, of course, sounds pleased: “As the new Chairman, I am happy that Bristol-Myers Squibb and ImClone Systems have come to this very amicable agreement which I have every hope should benefit greatly both parties.”