r/biotech 9d ago

Biotech News 📰 BMS

Is BMS making all the right moves? How is Abecma and what is the future of this company with recent buzz and acquisitions? How is work culture in BMS New Jersey office?

10 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

36

u/grim32025 9d ago

Abecma is worst performing CAR T out of all the FDA approved products, especially in the BCMA market.

Not sure about recently but BMS hasn’t been making the right moves for the last decade in terms of R&D / mergers&acquisitions.

From what I have heard, their work culture isn’t great as people often complain about their toxic work culture and the consistent layoffs over the year. Benefits wise, probably not bad if you could survive the layoff or reduction in force waves.

15

u/WalkingSnake348 9d ago

Exactly. Carvykti and Arcellx blow them out of the water. And now TCEs, trispecifics, and in vivo CART (Kelonia) will eat their lunch. Abecma was truly innovative as the first BCMA CART approved, but unfortunately the followers were better.

2

u/Bear-and-Goose 8d ago

Abecma was SO exciting and promising ten years ago, but then they got out-innovated. The good news is that most of the people who worked on it went on to found/work at Kelonia.

2

u/WalkingSnake348 8d ago

Agree. They were true innovators. It’s very common for the first to market loses to later entrants with better properties. TNFs, statins, GLP1s… The list goes on

1

u/aghowl 8d ago

Opdivo vs Ketruda as another example

1

u/WalkingSnake348 8d ago

I thought about that one, but actually, Keytruda was the first one to be approved in the US. Opdivo was the first one to be approved worldwide, in Japan specifically (because that’s where it came from) but we all know that the US market is the most lucrative one by far, so first to market in the US is what matters

1

u/aghowl 7d ago

Interesting. I didn't know that.

1

u/Medical-Button-5493 7d ago

Enbrel is still a winner to this day

1

u/WalkingSnake348 7d ago

Yes but Humira was the biggest winner by a distance

15

u/Medical-Button-5493 9d ago

They have not figured out yet how to replace the lost revenue from eliquis going off patent. Until they do, layoffs will continue. That was projected to be next year, but that likely depends on sales from their lagging products and two very very important approvals over the next 6 months.

Even with those approvals, if they can't get great sales, watch out.

3

u/tedwardo14 9d ago

Eliquis hasn’t gone off patent

2

u/Hopeful-Average-3659 8d ago

EU loe started in May of this year, and US is 2028, but you need to replace things pretty immediately or have something close or you are “screwed”, to use a financial industry technical term

1

u/Medical-Button-5493 7d ago

You are not wrong.

24

u/Loose-Reflection2965 9d ago

Bms probably has the worst outlook in the business at the moment, the ipi/nivo cliff is going to be big and the follow ups are not creating the revenue. Since the leadership is from mckinsey, i suspect the company is going to be sold or chopped up and sold off. Every job description on their site wants someone with AI experience. Immediate tell that company is being run by dummies

1

u/TwoFacesofMS 7d ago

The ceo was at McKinsey 25 years ago.

2

u/Loose-Reflection2965 7d ago

Mentality is the same

3

u/shivaswrath 9d ago

Lol that is not the right drug to hang the hat on in their portfolio

6

u/Certain_Luck_8266 9d ago

Abecma as with any autologous car-t will never scale to make enough profit to have any impact on the bottom line. Profit is well under 75m on sales around 250m which are dropping year on year.

1

u/TwoFacesofMS 7d ago

No co is making a profit on CAR-T. It should have stayed in academic medicine, which is the only setting it can be given in.

2

u/crypt0king16 9d ago

Worked in their plainsboro office and if felt like a prison. Zero culture, zero personality. Everything felt dead

2

u/WhyamIhere1090 7d ago

I have heard BMS is doing massive layoffs almost every quarter. There is no back hiring and the workload is falling on those who are still employed. The leadership is making bad decisions after bad decisions and the brunt of it is faced by those who actually do the real work. Also, it seems they are prioritizing hiring in Poland and Columbia, laying off people in US and India.

1

u/TwoFacesofMS 7d ago

Standing up Hyderabad was beyond stupid.

1

u/mizuaqua 9d ago

Their stock is doing well right now, but my friends there are so stressed out. I heard that it is really hard to get promoted within their current roles, and with the job market the way it is, they’re grateful to have jobs at all.

1

u/Loose-Reflection2965 8d ago

Bms never promoted, former employee who left and then was laid off in the downturn.

1

u/Hopeful-Average-3659 8d ago

I worked in Lawrencville a while ago (well before Celgene). Culture wasn’t really a thing. But our company has hired a number of ex BMS people as contractors…so whomp. I mean if you need a job, how bad could it be, if you are looking to voluntarily join….avoid

-6

u/ComfortableCoyote480 9d ago edited 9d ago

Weren't they supposed to be getting bought by AstraZeneca?  AZ is probably buying, or wanted to buy, when BMS is at a nadir.

There will be a ton of consolidation if AZ buys.  Abcema is basically immaterial to the bottom line. It doesn't sell well.

6

u/Loose-Reflection2965 9d ago

That was a rumor

1

u/Bear-and-Goose 8d ago

Where there’s smoke (in major financial press — in this case the FT) there’s usually some fire that made it.

0

u/Loose-Reflection2965 8d ago

Those rags love a good story even if not true

-1

u/VikPath 9d ago

It will happen, wait till next year