Bristol Myers to invest $51.6 billion in the US over 5 years
Other drugmakers have also announced plans to ramp up spending in the US in recent months. PHOTO: REUTERS
Bristol Myers to invest $51.6 billion in the US over 5 years
Bengaluru - Bristol Myers Squibb said on May 5 it will invest US$40 billion (S$51.6 billion) in the United States over the next five years, as it seeks to expand its research and manufacturing presence in the country amid President Donald Trump's tariff threats.
The announcement of new investment was first made by chief executive officer Christopher Boerner in an opinion piece published in Stat News on May 5, and was later confirmed to Reuters by a company spokesperson.
In the Op-Ed, Mr Boerner said the money will be spread across research and development, technology and domestic manufacturing, as US drugmakers prepare to deal with Trump's tariffs.
Several other drugmakers have also announced plans to ramp up spending in the US in recent months as they prepare for possible Trump tariffs on the sector.
Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs on pharmaceutical imports on national security grounds. The sector has for long been spared from levies due to potential harms.
On May 5, Trump signed an executive order that aims to reduce the time it takes to approve pharmaceutical plants in the country, as part of new regulations to encourage domestic manufacturing.
Mr Boerner said bolstering US manufacturing enables greater control over highly complex supply chains while bringing manufacturing closer to where the majority of R&D is taking place.
'Through this investment plan, we will strengthen our presence across the country, ramp up radiopharmaceutical manufacturing, and invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to help us significantly increase the pace of innovation,' Mr Boerner said.
In 2024, Bristol acquired RayzeBio for US$4.1 billion, bringing multiple radiopharma drug candidates for treating solid tumours in various cancers. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU
A mining machine is seen at a mine containing rare earth minerals in Inner Mongolia, China. PHOTO: REUTERS China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU SHANGHAI – China is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms and will also deliver a verdict on its trade investigation of EU brandy imports by July 5, its Commerce Ministry said on June 7. Price commitment consultations between China and the EU on Chinese-made electric vehicles exported to the EU have also entered a final stage, but efforts from both sides are still needed, according to a statement on the ministry's website. The issues were discussed between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic in Paris on June 3, according to the statement. The comments mark progress on matters that have vexed China's relationship with the EU over the past year. Most recently, China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. The Commerce Ministry said China attached great importance to the EU's concerns and 'was willing to establish a green channel for qualified applications to speed up the approval process'. Mr Wang during the meeting 'expressed the hope that the EU will meet us halfway and take effective measures to facilitate, safeguard and promote compliant trade in high-tech products to China', according to the statement. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39 per cent on imports of European brandy – with French cognac bearing the brunt – have also strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the EU took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of 'pure retaliation'. The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands, including LVMH's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the brandy duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China's Commerce Ministry said on June 7 French companies and relevant associations have proactively submitted applications on price commitments for brandy to China, and that Chinese investigators have reached an agreement with them on the core terms. The Chinese authorities were now reviewing the complete text on those commitments and would issue a final announcement before July 5, it said. In April, the European Commission said the EU and China also agreed to look into setting minimum prices of Chinese-made electric vehicles instead of tariffs imposed by the EU last year. China's Commerce Ministry said the EU also proposed exploring 'new technical paths' relating to EVs, which the Chinese side was now evaluating. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
India, central Asian countries express interest in joint rare earths exploration
NEW DELHI – India and five central Asian countries have expressed interest in jointly exploring for rare earths and critical minerals, they said in a joint statement on June 6 after the fourth meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue. The announcement comes amid global alarm over China's decision to curb exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets, spooking industries ranging from automobiles and clean energy to defence. India and the central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – also called upon 'relevant authorities' for an early meeting of the India-Central Asia Rare Earth Forum, which last met in September. 'The ministers also encouraged exchange of delegations to explore new areas of cooperation in critical minerals,' the statement said, adding the sides agreed to hold their next meeting in 2026. Rare earths are a group of 17 elements used in the creation of magnets that power motion for cars, cellphones, missiles and other electronics. China mines about 60 per cent of the world's rare earths and makes 90 per cent of rare earth magnets. Beijing, however, has announced export restrictions on these in April as part of its sweeping response to US President Donald Trump's tariffs. India is holding talks with companies to establish long-term stockpiles of rare earth magnets by offering fiscal incentives for domestic production, as it looks to reduce dependence on shipments from China. It also plans to launch incentives for recycling 24 critical minerals – a plan that is in the final stages of approval – as it looks to secure the minerals needed for green energy transition. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump has options to punish Musk even if his federal contracts continue
The relationship between US President Donald Trump and Mr Elon Musk exploded into warfare on June 5. PHOTO: HAIYUN JIANG/NYTIMES WASHINGTON - After the relationship between President Donald Trump and Mr Elon Musk exploded into warfare on June 5, Mr Trump suggested that he might eliminate the tech titan's federal contracts. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it,' Mr Trump posted on his social media platform. That's not as easy as Mr Trump implies. The Pentagon and Nasa remain intensely reliant on SpaceX, Mr Musk's rocket launch and space-based communications company, to get to orbit and move government data across the world. But there are options available to the president that could make Mr Musk's relationship with the federal government much more difficult than it has been so far in Mr Trump's second administration. Mr Trump's most accessible weapon to punish Mr Musk is the ability to instruct federal regulators to intensify oversight of his business operations, reversing a slowdown in regulatory actions that benefited Mr Musk's businesses after Mr Trump was elected. 'In an administration that has defined itself by reducing regulation and oversight, it would not be difficult to selectively ramp up oversight again,' said Mr Steven Schooner, a former White House contracts lawyer who is now a professor at George Washington University. With a decree, Mr Trump could suspend Mr Musk's security clearance, a step that the Trump administration has also taken against some of its Biden-era critics. That move would make it harder for Mr Musk to continue in his role as CEO of SpaceX, given its billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts. Pentagon investigators had been examining whether Mr Musk has violated federal security clearance requirements for disclosing contacts with foreign government leaders, The New York Times reported in 2024. The Trump administration could also slow down new contracts going to SpaceX in the years to come, perhaps by looking for ways to drive more work to its rivals, such as Mr Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin or the Boeing and Lockheed partnership called United Launch Alliance. But billions of dollars in financial commitments have been made to SpaceX for launches that will be spread out over the rest of Mr Trump's term to deliver astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station and even the moon, as well as to send military and spy satellites into orbit. Moreover, the services SpaceX provides are vital to some of Mr Trump's top agenda items, such as building a new space-based missile defence programme that the Pentagon is calling Golden Dome. That programme will require dozens of launches to orbit as well as space-based observation and data transmission systems to track and help intercept missile threats. SpaceX is by far the dominant global player in these launches. While Blue Origin and other companies like Rocket Lab and Relativity Space are building or have recently built their own new rockets, none has the kind of launch record and reliability that SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has. Overall, the federal government has awarded nearly US$18 billion (S$23 billion) in contracts to SpaceX over the past decade, including US$3.8 billion just in the 2024 fiscal year, according to a tally by the Times. That makes SpaceX one of the largest federal contractors, with most of that money coming from Nasa and the Pentagon. Terminating SpaceX's contracts 'would end the US capability to launch astronauts to orbit for the foreseeable future,' said Ms Laura Seward Forczyk, founder of the space consulting firm Astralytical. It would also significantly delay the US effort to return humans to the moon, she said. Ms Bethany Stevens, Nasa's press secretary, hinted on Mr Musk's X social platform late on June 5 afternoon – as the verbal war between Mr Musk and Mr Trump continued to play out – that the deals with SpaceX are in fact not going to be cancelled anytime soon. 'Nasa will continue to execute upon the President's vision for the future of space,' Ms Stevens said, without mentioning Musk or SpaceX by name. 'We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President's objectives in space are met.' But Mr Trump has more flexibility when it comes to the alphabet soup of federal agencies that regulate SpaceX as well as Tesla, Mr Musk's car company; X; the Boring Co., his underground drilling outfit; and Neuralink, his computer chip brain implant startup. The federal government, by most historical and ethical norms, is not supposed to be used as a retaliatory machine to punish political enemies. And that practice by Mr Trump would be abnormal and inappropriate, Schooner said. But the Trump administration, including the Justice Department, has shown itself willing to take up investigations that target Mr Trump's enemies or organisations that he dislikes, like Harvard University or even his former aides who have become critics, like Mr Chris Krebs, his former top cybersecurity official. Before Mr Trump was elected, at least 11 federal agencies had ongoing investigations or lawsuits targeting Mr Musk's companies. These included the Federal Aviation Administration's scrutiny of launch safety issues, the Environmental Protection Agency's inquiry into potential water pollution at SpaceX's Texas launch site and transportation regulators' questions about fatal accidents involving Tesla cars using autopilot. Several of those inquiries were put on hold. In other instances, fines that Mr Musk's companies had been assessed were being reconsidered, including one that the FAA announced in September for what it said were safety violations during launches in Florida. Mr Trump's top transportation official vowed at his confirmation hearing to 'review' that fine. As of last week, it had still not been paid, an agency official said. The Fish and Wildlife Service also has slowed down its oversight of SpaceX's Texas launch site, where the company for years has been accused of damaging adjacent state park and National Wildlife Refuge lands. That enforcement effort could be turned back on almost overnight if Mr Trump ordered it. But no other US company can currently do what Nasa needs. Boeing, the other company Nasa hired to take astronauts to orbit, has yet to complete fixes for its Starliner capsule after a test mission left two Nasa astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, in orbit for nine months before they finally returned to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Aerospace company Northrop Grumman also has a contract to take cargo to the space station with its Cygnus spacecraft, but the most recent Cygnus had to be scrapped after it was damaged during shipment to Florida for launch. Mr Musk appears to recognise this leverage he has over Nasa. He initially threatened on June 5, as the war of words with Mr Trump played out, to stop future flights to deliver astronauts to the space station, but he appeared to walk back that threat later in the day. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.