Bristol-Myers Squibb reports positive financial performance

NEW YORK In spite of the global economic downturn and a prediction from IMS Health global pharmaceutical sales growth will decline by as much as 3.5% this year, drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb reported good financial performance and success in two strategic initiatives in its first quarter 2009 financial report Tuesday.

Net sales were $5.02 billion, a 3% increase over $4.9 billion in first quarter 2008, or 8% when excluding the affect of foreign exchange rates. Bristol also announced earlier this month that it would extend its development and commercialization deal with Otsuka Pharmaceutical for the bipolar disorder and schizophrenia drug Abilify (aripiprazole) from November 2012 to April 2015, and the two companies would collaborate on two cancer drugs, Sprycel (dasatinib) and Ixempra (ixabepilone).

The Food and Drug Administration’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee determined by a vote of 10 to 2 that data submitted with the regulatory application that Bristol filed with AstraZeneca for the Type 2 diabetes drug Onglyza (saxagliptin) were sufficient to rule out unacceptable risks to cardiovascular health while unanimously recommending a post-marketing trial to confirm the data.

The HIV drug Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate) and the hepatitis B drug Baraclude (entecavir) demonstrated consistent growth, while sales of the cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) declined by 12% compared with first quarter 2008.

“Our operating performance was excellent at both the top and bottom lines,” Bristol chairman and CEO James Cornelius stated. “We made outstanding strategic progress, taking decisive actions that shift our focus toward future growth as a biopharma leader.”