Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb (Template:Nyse), 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 E.R. 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, Cornelius had assumed the permanent role of CEO and Chairman upon the retirement of James Robinson, III. Robinson was appointed Chairman as part of the settlement regarding the "channel-stuffing" scandal (see Scandals and allegations). The company was crippled by a series of scandals through the 2000s which included "channel-stuffing" and resulted in $1B+ in state and federal fines. As part of a deal to avoid federal prosecution Bristol was placed under the oversight of a Federal judge and ex-FBI director, Louis Freeh, was placed on the BOD for a 2 year period. In addition, the disgraced head of the Pharma group, Richard Lane, and the ex-CFO, Fred Schiff, were indicted for federal securities violations. 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. Cornelius has embarked on mission of selling the company. In the interim a major restructuring has been implemented which involves focusing on biologic products along with cost-cutting through a 3-year 20+% headcount reduction involving primarily layoffs of employees, and the outsourcing and off-shoring of operations. A significant move will be made to replace US R&D with inexpensive operations in India and China.
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 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.
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.
Pharmaceuticals
The following is a list of key pharmaceutical products:[4]
- Abilify (aripiprazole)
- ATRIPLA (efavirenz 600 mg/ emtricitabine 200 mg/ tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg) Tablets
- Avalide (irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide)
- Avapro (irbesartan)
- Baraclude (entecavir)
- Cardiolite (kit for the preparation of Technetium Tc99m Sestamibi for injection)
- Erbitux (cetuximab)
- Ixempra (ixabepilone)
- Orencia (abatacept)
- Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate)
- Pravachol (pravastatin sodium) Tablets
- Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate)
- Sprycel (dasatinib) Tablets
- Sustiva (efavirenz)
- Taxol (paclitaxel) Injection
- Videx EC (didanosine, delayed-release capsules)
- Zerit (stavudine)
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.
Products under development
The following is a list of products under development:[5]
Scandals and allegations
On June 30th, 1999, consumer advocate Ralph Nader testified before the House Budget Committee on corporate welfare. Nader pointed out that taxol was developed in large part by the federal government while Bristol-Myers Squibb maintained production rights, with potential earnings of over $1 billion per year.[6]
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 Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay $150 million while neither admitting nor denying guilt.[7]
According to an FTC consent order filed in 2003,[8] 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.[9]
On September 12, 2006, a federal monitor, former Federal Judge Frederick B. Lacey, urged the company to remove then CEO Peter Dolan over the Plavix dispute. Later that day, BMS announced that Dolan would indeed step down.[10].
Under 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.
References
- ↑ Drinkard, Jim (2005-01-17). "Donors get good seats, great access this week". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ↑ "Financing the inauguration". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ↑ "Some question inaugural's multi-million price tag". USA Today. 2005-01-14. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ↑ http://www.bms.com/aboutbms/data/
- ↑ http://www.bms.com/research/content/data/pipeline.html
- ↑ http://www.nader.org/index.php?/archives/307-Corporate-Welfare-Horror-Stories.html
- ↑ SEC News Digest, August 9, 2004.
- ↑ News Release about Consent Order against Bristol-Myers, March 7, 2003
- ↑ Business Report, July 31, 2006. Accessed September 7, 2006
- ↑ CNN.com, September 12, 2006. Accessed September 12, 2006
See also
External links
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