[Pharm-policy] BMS Dupont deal

[love@cptech.org]

Well, we certainly will ask the FTC to block this merger, on the grounds
that it increases concentration in the HIV drug business, and that BMS
should not be permitted to do in this area what it has done in for
cancer drugs over the years.  Jamie

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 June 7, 2001  
 
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Bristol-Myers Clinches Deal to Acquire 
DuPont Drug Unit for $7.8 Billion in Cash
A WSJ.COM News Roundup


DuPont Co. reached a definitive agreement to sell its pharmaceuticals
business to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for $7.8 billion in cash.

Bristol-Myers Moves Closer to Deal to Purchase DuPont's Drug Business
(June 6)
 
DuPont said Thursday it plans to use a portion of the proceeds to
complete a $2.5 billion share buyback program announced last July. The
remaining proceeds will be used to reduce debt and invest in growth
opportunities in DuPont's core chemical business. DuPont's board also
authorized a new $2 billion share buyback program.

The deal, which had been rumored in recent days, would represent
Bristol-Myers's second-biggest acquisition ever, after its purchase of
Squibb in 1989.

It would also give Bristol-Myers, New York, a larger inventory of
important AIDS drugs. Bristol-Myers already sells Zerit and Videx, which
are important parts of AIDS therapy. DuPont has three AIDS drugs in
development, and Bristol-Myers is working on new AIDS therapies.

For DuPont, the sale is the epitaph to its dreams of building a
life-sciences company. Just two years ago DuPont officials talked of
building drug sales to $10 billion within a few years, up from about
$1.5 billion now. Instead, the company put the unit on the auction block
in December.