Corporate acquisitions and divestments as Bristol Myers Squibb
In August 2009, during a major restructuring activity, BMS acquired the biotechnology firm Medarex as part of the company's "String of Pearls" strategy of alliances, partnerships, and acquisitions.[45][46] In November 2009, Bristol Myers Squibb announced that it was "splitting off" Mead Johnson Nutrition by offering BMY shareholders the opportunity to exchange their stock for shares in Mead Johnson.[47] According to Bristol Myers Squibb, this move was expected to further sharpen the company's focus on biopharmaceuticals.[47]
In October 2010, the company acquired ZymoGenetics, securing an existing product, as well as pipeline assets in hepatitis C, cancer, and other therapeutic areas.
Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to pay around $2.5 billion in cash to buy Inhibitex Inc. in attempt to compete with Gilead/Pharmasset to produce hepatitis C drugs. The settlement will be finished in 2 months for its Inhibitex's shareholders acceptance of 126% premium price of its price over the previous 20 trading days ended on 6 January.[48] On 29 June, BMS extended its portfolio of diabetes treatments when it agreed to buy Amylin Pharmaceuticals for around US$5.3 billion in cash and pay US$1.7 billion to Eli Lilly to cover Amylin's debt and its outstanding collaboration-related obligations.[49] AstraZeneca, which already collaborated on several diabetes treatments with BMS, agreed to pay US$3.4 billion in cash for the right to continue development of Amylin's products.[49] Two years later, the company divested Amylin to AstraZeneca.[36]
In April 2014, BMS announced its acquisition of iPierian for up to $725 million.[50]
In February 2015, the company acquired Flexus Biosciences for $1.25 billion. As part of this deal, BMS will gain full rights to Flexus' lead small molecule IDO1-inhibitor, F001287.[51] In November, the company acquired the cardiovascular disease drug developer Cardioxyl for up to $2.075 billion. The deal strengthens the BMS' critical pipelines with the phase II candidate for acute decompensated heart failure, CXL-1427.[52]
In March 2016, the company announced it would acquire Padlock Therapeutics for up to $600 million.[53] In early July, the company announced it would acquire Cormorant Pharmaceuticals for $520 million, boosting BMS' oncology offering through Cormorants monoclonal antibody targeted against interleukin-8.[54]
In August 2017, the company acquired IFM Therapeutics for $300 million upfront, with contingency payments of $1.01 billion due on certain milestones – allowing BMS to better compete against Merck & Co's cancer rival treatment, Keytruda.[55]
In November 2019, the company acquired Celgene for $74 billion or $95 billion including debt. To gain regulatory approval, Amgen acquired Otezla from Celgene for $13.4 billion.[56][57][58] The Celgene acquisition aimed to be a refresher to the company's pipeline, helping to overcome from declining sales of Opdivo relative to competitor Keytruda. BMS investors Wellington Management Company and Starboard Value opposed the merger;[59] however, 75% of its shareholders voted to approve.[60][61]
In July 2019, the company sold its consumer health business, UPSA, to Taisho Pharmaceutical.[64] UPSA focused product delivery on France and the rest of Europe. As early as 2005, the company had divested individual consumer products, and its US- and Canada-focused consumer products business.
In February 2020, BMS and partner Biomotiv launched a new company called Anteros Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on creating inflammation and fibrosis medicines.[65] In August, the business announced it would acquire Forbius and its TGF-beta 1 & TGF-beta 3 inhibitors.[66] In October, BMS announced it would acquire cardiology company MyoKardia for $13.1 billion ($225 per share) gaining control of mavacamten, a cardiovascular drug for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and the development of two key treatments: danicamtiv (MYK-491) and MYK-224.[67]
In August 2022, BMS acquired Turning Point Therapeutics for $4.1 billion in cash, helping to boost its complement of cancer drugs, specifically repotrectinib.[68][69] That same month, the company announced it would be investing $180m in French AI company Owkin, to design potentially more precise and efficient clinical trials. The collaboration will initially focus on cardiovascular diseases, and has the potential to extend into projects in other therapeutic areas.[70]
In August 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb partnered with Cellares for the robotic production of CAR-T treatments of which it has two approved.[71] In September 2023, BMS announced it would pay Zenas BioPharma $50m upfront for a strategic license and collaboration to develop and commercialise obexelimab,[72] a novel, bi-functional antibody for autoimmune diseases.
In January 2024, BMS acquired Mirati Therapeutics, an American biotechnology company that develops targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer, for $4.8 billion, and an additional $1 billion in milestone payment.[73][74]
In March 2024, BMS acquired Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion.[75][76] The acquisition included Karuna's lead asset, KarXT, an investigational muscarinic antipsychotic combination of Xanomeline and Trospium for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.[76][77]
In February 2024, the company acquired RayzeBio for approximately $4.1 billion.[78][79]
In September 2024, the Food and Drug Administration approved Cobenfy, the first novel type of treatment for schizophrenia in 70 years.[80]
List of mergers and acquisitions
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors:
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (Formed by the merger of Squibb Corporation (Est 1858) and Bristol-Myers (Est 1887))
- Adnexus Therapeutics
- ConvaTec
- Kosan Biosciences
- Medarex (Acq 2009)
- ZymoGenetics (Acq 2010)
- Amira Pharmaceuticals
- Inhibitex Inc (Acq 2012)
- Amylin Pharmaceuticals (Acq 2012 jointly with AstraZeneca)
- iPierian (Acq 2014)
