Standard&Poor's said today that the ratings and outlook on New York, N.Y.-based pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (AA/Negative/A-1+) would not be affected after the company received a request from the FDA to conduct an additional clinical trial for its already delayed hypertension treatment Vanlev. An FDA advisory panel had recommended in July that the FDA reject Vanlev due to incidences of angioedema (swelling of face, neck, and throat) among patients. Bristol-Myers had also released trial data in early 2002 that showed Vanlev to be only marginally more effective than existing treatments. Bristol-Myers is urgently seeking new products to replace drugs that have lost patent protection in the past two years, and the company will have to make a
