The company on Thursday said it now expects more than $10 billion in new product sales in 2026, despite previously forecasting $10 billion to $13 billion in 2025.
Pictured: BMS office in California/iStock, hapabapa
On Thursday, Bristol Myers Squibb reported third-quarter financial results with nearly $11 billion in revenue, a decrease of 2% from the same period last year, citing lower sales of multiple myeloma drug Revlimid due to generic competition.
The company announced that revenue in the U.S. decreased 4% to $7.6 billion in the quarter. This is the fifth consecutive decline in quarterly revenue for BMS.
Revlimid brought in $1.43 billion in sales in the third quarter, lower than expected and a 41% decrease from the third quarter of 2022. The company has felt pressure to launch or acquire new drugs given that Revlimid is competing with cheaper generic versions. In addition, sales of Revlimid have dropped given that more patients are receiving the drug for free through the BMS patient assistance foundation.
BMS Chief Financial Officer David Elkins said during Thursday’s earnings call that the company has revised guidance for Revlimid this year from $5.5 billion to $6 billion and in 2024 he sees it “stepping down” to about $4 billion.
The company has also pushed back the timeframe for its current new product portfolio to hit $10 billion in sales by one year, noting that the ramp-up for drugs like multiple myeloma therapy Abecma, heart treatment Camzyos, anemia therapy Reblozyl, plaque psoriasis drug Sotyktu and multiple sclerosis medicine Zeposia are taking more time than expected. The company now expects more than $10 billion in new product sales in 2026, despite previously forecasting $10 billion to $13 billion in sales in 2025.
“For products like Sotyktu and Camzyos, the reality is, while the long-term potential for these products remains unchanged, it’s taking a bit longer,” BMS Chief Operating Officer and CEO Designate Chris Boerner told investors during Thursday’s earnings call. “And there are a couple of products where performance needs to change. And so, for example, with Abecma and Zeposia, we know that we’ve got challenges there.”
Earlier this month, BMS agreed to acquire cancer drugmaker Mirati Therapeutics for up to $5.8 billion in an effort to broaden its oncology portfolio.
BMS Chief Commercialization Officer Adam Lenkowsky told investors on Thursday that Mirati’s non-small cell lung cancer therapy Krazati has “significant commercial opportunity” as a best-in-class G12C KRAS inhibitor. “The real opportunity for Krazati is in the first-line setting in lung cancer,” Lenkowsky said.
However, BMS expects to face other revenue losses as two of its top sellers, cancer immunotherapy Opdivo and blood thinner Eliquis, lose patent exclusivity in a few years.
Third-quarter sales of Opdivo, the company’s flagship oncology product, were up 11% globally and grew 9% in the U.S. Eliquis global revenues increased 2% in the third quarter compared to the prior year period, while U.S. revenues increased 4% due to higher demand.
Matt Olszewski is a freelance writer based in Boston. Reach him on LinkedIn.
