BMS unveils cost-saving initiative, layoffs

April 25, 2024

Bristol Myers Squibb has unveiled a "strategic productivity initiative" designed to drive $1.5 billion in cost savings by the end of 2025.

Going forward, BMS says the company will focus resources on R&D programs with the highest ROI potential, prioritize investing in key growth brands and optimize operations across the organization.

Specifically, the plan to realize internal cost savings, included within BMS' first-quarter earnings report, involves pipeline rationalization, site consolidation, third-party spend reduction, as well as cuts to management layers and the broader workforce, which BMS says will impact approximately 2,200 employees in 2024.

The news comes as BMS looks to strengthen its long-term growth profile with a series of deals announced back in December. In late December, the drugmaker announced plans to acquire emerging radiopharma star RayzeBio in a cash deal worth approximately $4.1 billion. A week prior, BMS picked up psychiatric and neurological treatment specialist Karuna Therapeutics in a $14 billion deal. In early December, BMS inked its largest ADC deal of the year, signing a license and collaboration agreement with SystImmune worth up to $8.4 billion for a potentially first-in-class bispecific ADC targeting both EGFR and HER3.