Bristol-Myers Squibb And The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Enter Into A Collaboration Agreement As Part Of U.S. Immuno-Oncology Rare Population Malignancy Research Program

NEW YORK & BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) today announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement with The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins as part of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Immuno-Oncology Rare Population Malignancy (I-O RPM) program in the U.S. The I-O RPM research program is a multi-institutional initiative with academic-based cancer centers focused on the clinical investigation of immuno-oncology therapeutics as potential treatment options for patients with high risk, poor prognostic cancers, defined as a rare population malignancy.

“Johns Hopkins has been a long-time collaborator with Bristol-Myers Squibb in immuno-oncology research”

As part of the I-O RPM program, Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center will conduct a range of early phase clinical studies and Bristol-Myers Squibb will fund positions within The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine fellowship program.

“Johns Hopkins has been a long-time collaborator with Bristol-Myers Squibb in immuno-oncology research,” said Laura Bessen, M.D., head of U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “We look forward to working with them as part of the I-O RPM research program as we continue to advance the science in this innovative field of cancer research and development, particularly among subpopulations of patients with high risk, poor prognostic cancers.”

About I-O RPM

Immuno-oncology is an innovative approach to cancer research and treatment that is designed to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. The I-O RPM research program focuses on significant areas of high unmet need marked by poor outcomes among patients with rare population malignancies. A rare population malignancy is a subpopulation within a higher incident disease population. These patients have aggressive disease with an increased potential for early metastasis to multiple sites and/or are initially refractory or subject to early recurrences with conventional cancer therapies. Existing clinical research provide a strong rationale for further research into the potential of immunotherapies for these cancers.

The I-O RPM research program is a multi-institutional initiative with Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center and now the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. I-O RPM builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s formation in 2012 of the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON), which is a global collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb and academia focused on facilitating the translation of scientific research findings into clinical trials and, eventually, clinical practice.

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 immunotherapies discussed in this release will be successfully developed or approved for any of the indications described in this release. 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, 2014 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.