Rheumatoid

Rheumatoid

Bristol-Myers Squibb – Introduction

Bristol-Myers Squibb , often referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical company, headquartered in New York City. The company was formed in 1989, following the merger its predecessors Bristol-Myers and the Squibb Corporation.

Bristol-Myers Squibb , often referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical company, headquartered in New York City. The company was formed in 1989, following the merger its predecessors Bristol-Myers and the Squibb Corporation. Squibb was founded in 1858 by Edward Robinson Squibb in Brooklyn, New York, while Bristol-Myers was founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, New York (both were graduates of Hamilton College).

Lamberto Andreotti became the company's CEO on May 4, 2010. Former CEO James M. Cornelius remains chairman of the Board of Directors.

Bristol-Myers Squibb manufactures prescription pharmaceuticals in several therapeutic areas, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis and psychiatric disorders. Its mission is to "discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases." Over the past several years BMS had been upping the price of its medicines to bolster profits. In 2008 Sprycel gained notoriety as the drug with the largest annual price increase, at 32%.

BMS' primary R&D sites are located in Princeton, New Jersey (formerly Squibb) and Wallingford, Connecticut (formerly Bristol-Myers), with other sites in Hopewell and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium, and Tokyo.

A major restructuring involves focusing on the pharmaceutical business and biologic products along with productivity initiatives and cost-cutting and streamlining business operations through a multi-year program of on-going layoffs. As another cost-cutting measure Bristol-Myers also reduced subsidies for health-care to retirees and plans to freeze their pension plan at the end of 2009.

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. According to Bristol-Myers Squibb, this move is expected to further sharpen the company's focus on biopharmaceuticals.

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

BMS is a Fortune 500 Company (#129 in 2007 list). Newsweek's 2009 Green Ranking recognized Bristol-Myers Squibb as 8th among 500 of the largest U.S. corporations. Also, BMS was included in the 2009 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index of leading sustainability-driven companies.

In August 2009, BMS acquired the biotechnology firm Medarex as part of the company's "String of Pearls" strategy of alliances, partnerships and acquisitions.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Bristol-Myers Squibb, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki