Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene International Extend Research Collaboration

PRINCETON, N.J. & BANGALORE, India--Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and Syngene International, India's largest contract research organization, today announced a five-year extension of their drug discovery and development collaboration in India. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Since 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb has been working with Syngene and its corporate parent, Biocon Ltd., to develop integrated capabilities in medicinal and process chemistry, biology, biotechnology, biomarkers, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, analytical research, and pharmaceutical development at the Biocon Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Center (BBRC) in Bangalore.

The U.S.-India collaboration has produced six drug candidates for further study and also helped Bristol-Myers Squibb reduce the time and costs associated with advancing new compounds to first-in-human studies. One drug candidate currently in clinical trials was discovered at BBRC and early nonclinical development work done at BBRC has enabled most of Bristol-Myers Squibb's small molecule assets to advance to later stages of development over the last five years.

Commenting on the new agreement, Peter Bains, director, Syngene International, said: "We are extremely delighted to extend our discovery and development partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb for another five years. This extension reflects the strength of our existing collaboration which has delivered many successful outcomes. The scope of Syngene's engagement has expanded to encompass a broad range of integrated service offerings across the drug discovery and development continuum. We remain committed to supporting Bristol-Myers Squibb in their pursuit of developing new and innovative medicines for the future."

Francis Cuss, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: "I am excited about the opportunity to continue our highly productive collaboration with Biocon and Syngene. The BBRC has supported the nonclinical development of a large proportion of our small-molecule portfolio assets since its inception, and is a premier example of the high-quality innovative drug hunting that is taking place in India today."

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene jointly developed the BBRC at Biocon Park in Bangalore. Over the years, BBRC has become Bristol-Myers Squibb's largest research and development center outside the United States, housing more than 400 scientists.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information, please visit www.bms.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bmsnews/.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the compounds mentioned in this release will move into full product development, that the clinical trials of these compounds will support regulatory filings, that these compounds will receive regulatory approval or, if approved, that they will become commercially successful products. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Syngene International

Syngene, a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd, is India's leading contract research organization offering integrated drug discovery and development services with capabilities in medicinal chemistry, biology, in vivo pharmacology, toxicology, custom synthesis, process Research and Development, and formulation development for small and large molecules. Syngene has an expert team of over 2,300 scientists and 1 million sq. ft. of built-up laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure to support the Research and Development programs of global pharma, biotech and nutrition companies. More information is available at www.syngeneintl.com.

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