Massive Lawsuit Against BMS Dismissed

A $6.4 billion lawsuit against Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) was dismissed on Monday. The suit alleged that BMS purposely delayed approval of drugs developed by Celgene to avoid paying $6.4 billion to Celgene shareholders. Judge Jesse Furman of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that UMB Bank, which represented Celgene, lacked standing because it was never properly appointed as the trustee for shareholders owning contingent value rights, which are given to shareholders of a company being acquired. When BMS bought Celgene in 2019, it guaranteed Celgene investors an additional payout if it secured FDA approval of three Celgene drugs by certain dates. The approval deadline was not met for lisocabtagene maraleucel (Breyanzi), a gene therapy used to treat several types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.