BMY shifting R&D spend, reports earnings

Bristol-Myers (BMY) said on a conference call Monday that it will not grow its R&D budget this year and it will shift a significant portion of its R&D spend to later-stage from discovery programs. A zero-growth R&D year would make it the third year in a row. "Given the strength of our late-stage pipeline, our R&D spend will be relatively more focused on development, as we have rebalanced the spending from discovery," said BMY CFO Andrew Bonfield. "Approximately one quarter of our budget will be focused on discovery, compared to around one-third in 2002." At projected spending levels, the reallocation of R&D funds would translate into a $550 million spend rate on discovery research this year, down from the $726 million BMY would have spent at the prior 33% allocation.

BMY's late-stage pipeline includes Erbitux, a cancer monoclonal antibody in-licensed from ImClone (IMCL); Atazanavir, a protease inhibitor under FDA review for AIDS; and CTLA4-Ig, a fusion protein that has completed Phase IIb trials in rheumatoid arthritis. ...