American pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is close to selling its stake in a diabetes partnership with AstraZeneca PLC to the London-based drugmaker. Reuters, citing a report by the Wall Street Journal, said that the deal is valued at more than $3 billion.
According to the report, Bristol-Myers had announced last month that it would no longer conduct research to discover new drugs for diabetes, hepatitis C and neurological conditions. The New York-based drugmaker would instead increase its spending on medicines that harness the immune system to fight cancer.
That refocus led to speculation that Bristol-Myers would seek to sell its share in the non-US part of the diabetes joint venture to AstraZeneca, Reuters said.
The joint venture includes the production of oral medicines Onglyza, Kombiglyze and Forxiga, as well as injectable treatments Bydureon and Byetta. Demand for many of these products has been relatively slow to build up. While Forxiga, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, was rejected by US regulators in 2012, the report said.
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