As part of its third-quartern earnings release, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced what it termed “an evolution of its operating model” in the near and long term. Without providing specifics, the company said the model will emphasize a more focused investment in commercial opportunities against key brands and markets, a competitive and more agile R&D organization that can accelerate the pipeline, streamlined operations, and realigned manufacturing capabilities that broaden biologics capabilities to reflect current and future portfolio.

The company announced third-quarter revenues of $4.9 billion, up 21% year over year, led by growth in revenues of its immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo (nivolumab), its anticoagulant, Eliquis (apixaban), and Orencia (abatacept), a drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Opdivo reported third-quarter global revenues of $920 million, Eiquis of $884 million, and Orcencia of $572 million, representing the company’s top-three selling drugs in the quarter. Opdivo, which is approved and under development for several cancer indications, suffered a setback earlier this year in a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) trial [CheckMate -026 trial], a point noted by company executives in highlighting recent performance.

“Our third quarter was marked by strong commercial execution and solid trends across our products and geographies,” said Giovanni Caforio, MD and chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said the company in a statement. “While we are disappointed with the results of CheckMate -026, a setback in first-line lung in the short term, our overall strategic focus does not change. Going forward, we see growth in both the near and long term to continue to be driven by Opdivo, Eliquis and Orencia , and by an exciting pipeline of specialty medicines over time. As we focus on the future, we are evolving our operating model to more effectively focus resources on key priorities and simplify execution to deliver sustainable growth and to speed transformational medicines to patients.”

With respect to its operating model, in an investors’ conference call on October 27, 2016, the company said it will evolve its manufacturing network in alignment with its product focus and priorities. The company said that approximately 75% of its developmental pipeline is in biologics and that the company will continue to invest in biologics manufacturing and streamline small-molecule operations. The company pointed to two large-scale biologics manufacturing investments in the US and Europe. 

Bristol-Myers Squibb is proceeding with a large-scale biomanufacturing project, in Ireland following the company’s $750-million investment for a new biologics bulk manufacturing facility in Devens, Massachusetts. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s plans to open a new EUR 900 million ($1.02 billion) large-scale biologics manufacturing facility in Cruiserath, County Dublin, near Blanchardstown that will produce multiple therapies for the company’s immuno-oncology portfolio. The manufacturing facility is estimated to be operational in 2019.

Earlier this year, Bristol-Myers Squibb completed a major expansion at its Devens facility. The $280- million project added two new buildings to the 89-acre Devens campus: a Biologics Development Building for designing processes for the early production of investigational medicines, and a Clinical Manufacturing Building where investigational medicines will be produced to support clinical trials. Both are new capabilities for Devens, a site that had previously focused solely on large-scale, bulk biologics manufacturing. When combined with the company’s initial $750 million investment to build the facility, the expansion project brings the company’s total investment at the site to more than $1 billion.

Source: Bristol-Myers Squibb