NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 2, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (A+/Stable/A-1+) $7.0 billion cash acquisition of unrated Amylin Pharmaceuticals will not affect its ratings or outlook on the company. On June 29, 2012, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and partner AstraZeneca PLC reached agreement to jointly purchase diabetes specialist Amylin. The $7.0 billion cost will be equally split between BMS and AstraZeneca, and both will share in the profits and cash flow from Amylin novel diabetes treatments. We view this transaction as a logical extension of the current BMS-AstraZeneca collaboration on diabetes. They shared in the development costs and now share in the promotion of Onglyza/Komglyze, members of the DPP-IV class of diabetes treatments.
