Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb, often shortened to BMS, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Its roots go back to two 19th-century drugmakers: Edward Robinson Squibb founded a Brooklyn lab in 1858, and William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers started Bristol-Myers in Clinton, New York, in 1887. The two merged in 1989 to create the modern company. In 2020, BMS completed a $74 billion acquisition of Celgene, a move that dramatically expanded its cancer portfolio and led to the simplified name without a hyphen.

Today, BMS focuses on serious diseases, with a pipeline and marketed drugs spanning oncology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, and hematology. Its top seller is Eliquis, a blood thinner for atrial fibrillation, which brought in about 30% of 2025 revenues. Opdivo, an immunotherapy for multiple cancers, followed at 21%, and Orencia, for autoimmune conditions, added 8%. Other key products include Revlimid, Pomalyst, Yervoy, and Reblozyl. The U.S. market accounts for 69% of sales.

The company maintains R&D hubs in New Jersey, California, Spain, Massachusetts, Belgium, Japan, India, and the UK. It ranks 94th on the Fortune 500 and 173rd on the Forbes Global 2000. In August 2026, reports surfaced that AstraZeneca had held exploratory talks about a potential $400 billion merger, though no deal had been finalized. [edit]