NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 9, 2012--Standard&Poor's said today that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s (BMS, A+/Stable/A-1) agreement to purchase unrated, development-stage pharmaceutical company Inhibitex Inc. for $2.5 billion in cash does not affect its ratings or outlook on the company. While Inhibitex has no marketed products, it does have a potentially highly effective treatment for Hepatitis C infection, INX 189, in the second stage of clinical testing. The currently approved treatments are only appropriate for a minority of infected patients, presenting a large, unmet medical need. We believe the product will require at least three more years of development before reaching the market, if approved, and there will not be any meaningful benefit to BMS in the near
