Bristol-Myers plans divestment to progress Celgene acquisition

US pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) saw its shares down as much as 4.1% to $47.31 as it announced that to help proceed its $74 billion acquisition of biotech major Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG), it would sell one of the latter’s top-selling drugs, Otezla (apremilast).

Celgene was down 4.23% at $94.73. Psoriasis treatment Otezla sales were $389 million in the first quarter of 2019, a 10% increase year-on-year, and are forecast to reach $1.98 billion in the current full year by analysts at Zacks Investment Research.

Bristol-Myers says it remains actively engaged in discussions with the US Federal Trade Commission on the FTC’s continued review of the proposed transaction. To allow the transaction to close on a timely basis in light of concerns expressed by the FTC, the company is planning the divestiture of Otezla.