Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
BMS licensed Ono Pharmaceutical's PD-1 antibody for just 4% royalties on North American sales—a deal that produced Opdivo at $8B+ in peak annual revenue. The remarkably low royalty rate reflected the era's uncertainty about checkpoint immunotherapy—arguably the highest-ROI oncology license ever.
BMS obtained exclusive global rights (ex-Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) to develop and commercialize nivolumab (Opdivo), a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor originally discovered by Ono Pharmaceutical. Ono retained rights in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Royalty structure: 4% on North American net sales and 15% on all other territory sales. Opdivo became one of the most commercially successful immuno-oncology drugs, generating peak annual sales exceeding $8B.
220K US cases/yr · $12.0B US Lung Cancer Therapeutics Market (2011)
Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for ~85% of lung cancers, the leading cause of cancer death in the US. Before checkpoint inhibitors, treatment was limited to platinum chemotherapy and targeted therapies. Nivolumab's approval in NSCLC (2015) opened the largest commercial opportunity for PD-1 inhibitors.
In 2011, NSCLC was dominated by platinum chemotherapy with targeted therapies (erlotinib, crizotinib) for biomarker subsets. Pembrolizumab ultimately won the NSCLC commercial race with KEYNOTE-024 first-line monotherapy data. The IO+chemo combination paradigm further expanded the market.
68K US cases/yr · $3.3B US Melanoma Therapeutics Market (2011)
Metastatic melanoma had dismal outcomes in 2011, with ~15% 5-year survival for stage IV disease. The BMS-Ono collaboration gave BMS global rights to nivolumab, a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor. Combined with BMS's earlier ipilimumab/CTLA-4 from Medarex, this positioned BMS as the pioneer of immuno-oncology.
In 2011, ipilimumab (Yervoy) had just received FDA approval for melanoma. Merck's pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was in early development. Nivolumab (Opdivo) was approved in 2014, eventually generating >$8B in annual sales. The PD-1/PD-L1 class became the largest oncology market segment globally.
BMS obtained exclusive global rights (ex-Japan/Korea/Taiwan) to nivolumab from Ono. 4% NA royalty, 15% ROW.
FDA approved Opdivo for unresectable/metastatic melanoma. First anti-PD-1 approval. Expanded to 15+ indications.
Opdivo became top-5 oncology drug globally. Approved in 15+ indications. Patent expiry approaching 2028-2031.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (this deal) | 2011 | — | 76 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Medarex Inc. | 2009 | $2.4B | 92 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Celgene Corporation | 2019 | $74.0B | 77 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / MyoKardia Inc. | 2020 | $13.1B | 76 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Karuna Therapeutics | 2023 | $14.0B | 76 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / SystImmune Inc. | 2023 | $8.4B | 71 |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Turning Point Therapeutics Inc. | 2022 | $4.1B | 70 |
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More: 2011 deals · Bristol-Myers Squibb Company deals · Oncology deals