Bristol-Myers Squibb Company To Stop Sale, Manufacture Of Antibiotic Tequin

NEW YORK, MAY 2 (newratings.com) – Pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.NYS) Friday announced that it plans to stop manufacturing and selling its antibiotic, Tequin. The drug was approved in 1999. Eric Miller, spokesman for Bristol-Myers Squibb, said that the company had decided to return the rights to the drug to Japan-based Kyorin Pharmaceutical. The decision was taken following questions regarding the drug’s impact on patients’ blood sugar. Following a directive from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in February this year, Bristol-Myers Squibb had increased the warnings on the drug’s label to specify that it should not be used by patients suffering from diabetics. The label also mentioned that the drug could be harmful to the elderly and patients suffering from kidney problems.