Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)

Bristol Myers Squibb, the Princeton, New Jersey drugmaker behind the blood thinner Eliquis and the cancer medicine Opdivo, reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.0 billion, up 6 percent 1. Newer medicines, which it calls the Growth Portfolio, rose 15 percent to $7.6 billion, while older ones fell 4 percent as generic copies cut into them 1. The company then raised its 2026 revenue goal to about $49.0 billion to $50.0 billion, from $46.0 billion to $47.5 billion 1.

Eliquis led the gain, with sales up 22 percent to $4.48 billion, after the company cut the drug's US list price, which lowered the rebates it pays 211. BioSpace reported that the company pushed back late-stage results for Cobenfy in Alzheimer's psychosis, now due from early 2027, and for milvexian in atrial fibrillation 12.

Third-quarter results were scheduled for 29 October 2026 10. They are the first full quarter since the FDA's accelerated approval of Zenbexus, a new myeloma pill, in August 14. In early August, reports of merger talks with AstraZeneca were followed by a senior source telling Reuters there were no discussions between the companies 13.

The company traces to a New York business started in 1887, and took its present name in 1989 when Bristol-Myers merged with Squibb 3. For decades it grew on its own medicines, and by 2019 Eliquis and Opdivo led its sales 5.

Its modern shape dates from 20 November 2019, when it completed its purchase of Celgene, the maker of the myeloma pills Revlimid and Pomalyst 56. Celgene holders received one Bristol-Myers share and $50.00 in cash per Celgene share, plus a right to $9.00 more if certain approvals came on time 5. To meet the concerns of the Federal Trade Commission, Celgene sold its pill Otezla to Amgen for $13.4 billion 5.

In 2020 revenue rose 63 percent, with Celgene's medicines adding $15.7 billion, yet the year closed with a loss 6. The loss came mainly from a one-time charge for the research bought with MyoKardia, a heart drug developer acquired for about $13.1 billion 6. MyoKardia's lead medicine, mavacamten, is now sold as Camzyos 3.

Revenue rose 9 percent in 2021 on Eliquis, Opdivo with Yervoy, newly launched medicines and Revlimid 7. Then Revlimid began to lose its shelter, as generic copies arrived under licences granted in patent settlements 3. In 2023 revenue fell 2 percent, mainly on lower Revlimid sales from that generic erosion 8.

In 2024 it bought three companies: Karuna, maker of the schizophrenia medicine Cobenfy, RayzeBio, a developer of radioactive cancer drugs, and Mirati, maker of the lung cancer pill Krazati 9. Revenue rose 7 percent that year on the newer medicines and Eliquis 9. But Karuna cost $14.0 billion, of which $12.1 billion was charged at once as acquired research, so the year ended in a loss 9.

Revenue was flat at $48.2 billion in 2025, as gains in the newer medicines and Eliquis were offset by generics and higher US government rebates 3. Revlimid sales fell 49 percent to $2.95 billion that year 3. In December 2025 the company bought Orbital Therapeutics for $1.7 billion, adding an early way to reprogram immune cells inside the body 3.

In June 2025 it also agreed with BioNTech to co-develop pumitamig, an antibody that blocks two cancer targets, paying $1.5 billion upfront 2. It licensed a radioactive prostate cancer agent from Philochem for an upfront $350 million 3.

The buying left the company with heavy borrowing: net debt, borrowings minus cash and marketable securities, was $31.7 billion at 30 June 2026 1. That was down from $34.0 billion at the end of 2025 1.

Eliquis, the blood thinner

Eliquis is a pill that lowers the risk of stroke and blood clots, sold with Pfizer, which shares profits and losses equally in most countries 3. It was the largest product in 2025 at $14.4 billion, about 30 percent of revenue (computed) 3.

US generic makers that settled with the company may launch in 2028, and the main European patents expire in November 2026 3. Generic versions already sell in some European countries while lawsuits continue 3. Medicare's government-set price for Eliquis took effect on 1 January 2026, and the company now gives it free to Medicaid 3.

Opdivo, Yervoy and Opdualag: cancer immunotherapy

Opdivo is an antibody that releases a brake on the immune system so it can attack cancer, approved in lung, skin, kidney, bladder and other cancers 3. It sold $10.0 billion in 2025, up 8 percent, with Yervoy at $2.9 billion and Opdualag, a two-antibody melanoma medicine, at $1.2 billion 3. Its estimated US exclusivity runs to 2028 3.

In the second quarter of 2026 Opdivo fell 3 percent, while Opdivo Qvantig, a version injected under the skin, reached $261 million 1. Merck's rival Keytruda pays the company and its partner Ono a 2.5 percent royalty through 2026 under a patent settlement 3. Opdivo in turn pays Ono royalties of 4 percent in North America and 15 percent in most other places 3.

Blood cancer and blood disorder medicines

Reblozyl treats anemia in beta thalassemia and in a bone marrow disorder called MDS, and sold $2.3 billion in 2025, up 31 percent 3. Breyanzi, a CAR-T therapy built from a patient's own immune cells, grew 82 percent to $1.4 billion 3. The older myeloma pills shrink fast: Revlimid fell 49 percent and Pomalyst 71 percent in the second quarter of 2026 1.

Zenbexus, approved by the FDA on an accelerated basis in August, is the first medicine of a new class called CELMoDs, discovered at Celgene 15. MedCity News reported a list price of $29,500 per 28-day treatment cycle 15. Full approval depends on confirmatory trials, and the drug carries a boxed warning on harm to unborn babies 14.

Camzyos, Cobenfy and other newer medicines

Camzyos is a pill for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickened heart muscle that blocks blood flow, and sold $1.1 billion in 2025, up 77 percent 3. It now faces Cytokinetics' Myqorzo, the second drug of its kind cleared in the US after Camzyos won approval in April 2022 16.

Cobenfy, a new type of antipsychotic for schizophrenia, sold $155 million in 2025 and $63 million in the second quarter of 2026 1131. BioSpace reported that the quarter missed analysts' expectations, and the commercial chief said new patient starts and repeat prescribing need to improve 12. Other growing lines include Orencia for rheumatoid arthritis at $3.7 billion in 2025, Sotyktu for psoriasis and Krazati for a form of lung cancer 3.

Plants, research and people

The company makes medicines in the US, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland, and owns or leases about 130 sites worldwide 3. Cell therapies are made in Bothell, Washington, Summit, New Jersey, Devens, Massachusetts and Leiden in the Netherlands 3. A plant for radioactive cancer drugs opened in Indianapolis in 2025 3.

It had about 32,500 employees in 43 countries at the end of 2025, 54 percent of them in the US 3. Christopher Boerner is chair and chief executive, and David Elkins, a former Celgene finance chief, is chief financial officer 3. Research spending was $10.0 billion in 2025, and the pipeline holds over 45 distinct medicines in development 3.

Problems and pressures

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare sets prices for Eliquis from 2026 and Pomalyst from 2027, and picked Orencia for government-set prices from 2028 3. In a December 2025 deal with the US government, the company agreed to discounts near 80 percent for cash-paying patients on five medicines 3. In return it gets some tariff relief until January 2029 3.

A trustee for holders of the Celgene payment rights still sues, saying the company did not use diligent efforts on Breyanzi's approval and so avoided a $6.4 billion obligation 2. No trial date is set 2. BioSpace reported that ADEPT-2, a Cobenfy trial, reopened enrollment in December 2025 after the company found irregularities at some study sites 12.

The umbrella, in words

The main brands are the medicines themselves: Eliquis, Opdivo, Orencia, Yervoy, Reblozyl, Breyanzi, Camzyos, Cobenfy, Zenbexus and the older Revlimid and Pomalyst 315. The subsidiaries list filed with the 2025 annual report names Celgene Corporation and 2seventy bio, and leaves out subsidiaries that are not significant together 4. The company bought 2seventy bio in 2025 for full US rights to the cell therapy Abecma 3.

Its outside ties are mostly agreements: it shares Eliquis with Pfizer, pays Ono for Opdivo, and shares a cancer antibody, pumitamig, equally with BioNTech after paying $1.5 billion upfront 32. In May 2026 it licensed 13 early programs from Hengrui Pharma, owing $600 million upfront and up to $14.3 billion in milestones 2.

The head office is in Princeton, New Jersey, and the company counted eight significant manufacturing sites and eight research sites at the end of 2025 3. The largest holders on file are Vanguard Capital Management with 7.49 percent as of 31 March 2026, and State Street with 5 percent as of 30 June 2026 1718.

The company expects 2026 revenue of about $49.0 billion to $50.0 billion and operating expenses of about $16.5 billion, by its July guidance 1. It expects Eliquis sales to grow 20 to 25 percent over 2025 1. It also expects about $2.0 billion in cost savings by the end of 2027 from its productivity program 3.

The FDA set a decision date of 11 March 2027 for Reblozyl in anemia tied to myelofibrosis, a bone marrow cancer 1. It set 13 May 2027 for mezigdomide, a second CELMoD pill for myeloma, and accepted for priority review a Camzyos filing for adolescents aged 12 to under 18 1.

The chief executive said readouts from the ADEPT trials of Cobenfy in Alzheimer's psychosis are expected to begin in early 2027 and be spread across the year 12. BioSpace reported that results of the milvexian stroke-prevention trial, run with Johnson & Johnson, were still expected by the end of the year 12.

The annual report lists other registrational readouts expected through 2026 and 2027, among them Sotyktu in lupus and admilparant in lung scarring 3. The company is to pay BioNTech $2.0 billion in anniversary payments from the third quarter of 2026 through 2028, unless it ends the deal first 2. It plans to open a new research site in San Diego during 2026 3.

Under its December 2025 agreement with the US government, the company committed to a more balanced pricing approach for new launches across developed nations and to keep expanding US production 3. Medicare's set price for Pomalyst applies from 1 January 2027, and Orencia faces a government-set price from 2028 3. It also owes Hengrui a $175 million anniversary payment in 2027 2.

Third-quarter 2026 results were scheduled for Thursday, 29 October 2026, and the company said its executives would review them with investors 10.