Bristol-Myers Squibb

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Type Public(NYSE: BMY)
Founded 1887
Headquarters New York City, New York, USA
Key people James Cornelius,CEO
Industry Pharmaceutical
Employees 43,000 (2005)
Website www.bms.com
A Bristol-Myers Squibb research campus in Lawrenceville, New Jersey
A Bristol-Myers Squibb research campus in Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), colloquially referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical corporation, formed by a 1989 merger between pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Company, founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, NY (both were graduates of Hamilton College), and Squibb Corporation. The New York City-based company's Chairman and CEO was most recently Peter R. Dolan. Dolan was fired in September 2006 for his handling of a patent dispute over the drug Plavix, and was replaced with interim CEO James Cornelius. Since that time, Mr. Cornelius has assumed the permanent role of CEO and Chairman upon the retirement of James Robinson, III. Mr. Robinson was appointed Chairman as part of the settlment regarding the "channel-stuffing" scandal (see Scandals and allegations). BMS' primary R&D sites are located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey (formerly Squibb) and Wallingford, Connecticut (formerly Bristol-Myers), with other sites around the US, in Ireland and in other countries.

In 2005, BMS was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[1] [2] [3]

BMS is a Fortune 500 Company (#129 in 2007 list).

Bristol-Myers Squibb manufactures prescription pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter drugs and health care products in several therapeutic areas. It is also the parent company of Mead Johnson which manufactures nutritional products such as Enfamil baby formulas and infant vitamin supplements like Tri-Vi-Sol and ConvaTec, a world leader in Ostomy and wound care products. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a mission to "Extend and Enhance Human Life" and works to provide help for areas of unmet medical need.

Contents

[edit] Spokesman

Lance Armstrong has appeared in several of the company's marketing campaigns, as a survivor of testicular cancer that was treated with BMS medication.

[edit] Pharmaceuticals

The following is a list of key pharmaceutical products as found on the Bristol-Myers Squibb "At A Glance" information page, retrieved 2006-09-28.

[edit] Taxol

At one time, BMS held the solitary contract to harvest the bark of endangered yew trees on United States territory for the manufacture of chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol). Current paclitaxel production comes from renewable sources. BMS also held the original paclitaxel license, but there are now multiple generic producers.

[edit] Products under development

The following is a list of products under development as found on the Bristol-Myers Squibb website, retrieved 2008-01-28.

[edit] Scandals and allegations

The company was involved in an accounting scandal[1] in 2002 that resulted in a significant restatement of revenues from 1999-2001. The restatement was the result of an improper booking of sales related to "channel stuffing", or the practice of offering excess inventory to customers in order to reflect higher sales numbers. The company has since settled with the United States Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission related to this scandal, agreeing to pay $150 million but neither admitting nor denying guilt.[4]

According to an FTC consent order filed in 2003,[5] the company

engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts over the past decade to obstruct the entry of low-price generic competition for three of Bristol's widely-used pharmaceutical products: two anti-cancer drugs, Taxol and Platinol, and the anti-anxiety agent BuSpar. [...] Bristol avoided competition by abusing federal regulations in order to block generic entry; deceived the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to obtain unwarranted patent protection; paid a would-be generic rival over $70 million not to bring any competing products to market; and filed baseless patent infringement lawsuits to deter entry by generics.

The company has also been sued in this matter by state attorneys general to recover monetary damages.

A criminal investigation of the company was made public in July 2006, and the FBI raided the company's corporate offices. The investigation centered around the distribution of Plavix and charges of collusion.[6]

On September 12, 2006, a federal monitor urged the company to remove then CEO Peter Dolan over the Plavix dispute. Later that day, BMS announced that Dolan would indeed step down.[7].

Under Mr. Cornelius's reign, all executives involved in the "channel-stuffing" and generic competition scandals have since left the company. The latest being Andrew Bodner, Executive VP, who has been indicted due to his involvement in the Plavix-Apotex episode.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Drinkard, Jim. "Donors get good seats, great access this week", USA Today, 2005-01-17. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  2. ^ "Financing the inauguration", USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  3. ^ "Some question inaugural's multi-million price tag", USA Today, 2005-01-14. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  4. ^ SEC News Digest, August 9, 2004.
  5. ^ News Release about Consent Order against Bristol-Myers, March 7, 2003
  6. ^ Business Report, 31 July 2006. Accessed 7 September 2006
  7. ^ CNN.com, 12 September 2006. Accessed 12 September 2006

[edit] See also

[edit] External links