The Trenton Times published the following article on October 20, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Mercer County operations forge new endeavors to make up for lost drug revenue

By David Karas/The Times 
on October 20, 2013 at 7:20 AM, updated October 20, 2013 at 7:25 AM

May 17, 2012 was a red-letter day for Bristol-Myers Squibb, a drug maker employing several thousand workers in the Princeton area. It was the day the pharmaceutical firm’s blockbuster blood thinner product, Plavix, officially lost patent protection, allowing competitors to offer their own versions of the drug and capture profits from Bristol-Myers.

There was a sharp and immediate impact on the company’s sales. Plavix sales revenue dropped from more than $7 billion in 2011 to $2.55 billion in 2012. Revenues from that drug have continued to decline this year. The company’s ability to sustain its drug revenue is critical to support its far-flung operations, which in the Mercer County area include corporate campuses in Hopewell, Plainsboro and Lawrence, as well as offices in West Windsor. Bristol-Myers has 6,300 workers in New Jersey, including 1,500 in Plainsboro alone.

But the company had already been stoking its product pipeline with new drug candidates that could potentially replace a portion of the revenues Plavix used to bring home. And new investments and alliances also may help Bristol-Myers to recover, a company spokesman said.

“I think Bristol was prepared,” said Tony Butler, an analyst on the American pharmaceutical industry with Barclays Capital.

Researchers who synthesized the active ingredient for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s new oral Factor Xa inhibitor, review data from their ongoing work to discover new medicines to treat cardiovascular diseases at the company’s laboratories in Hopewell Township.Courtesy of Bristol-Myers Squibb

While acknowledging the loss of Plavix exclusivity has hurt the company’s cash flow, Butler pointed to a number of drug products in the works that show promise for the future of Bristol-Myers.

“Some of the most exciting things occurring at Bristol-Myers are actually in development,” he said. “Bristol-Myers and Merck are developing drugs in oncology that, biologically speaking, are some of the most exciting prospects I have seen in 20 years.”