Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Orbital Therapeutics, Inc.

2025 · Acquisition/Merger · $1.5B · Complete

Outcome grade pending — assessed 5 years post-close.

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The coverage arc

Oct 10, 2025 BioSpace Bearish

BMS Makes $1.5B Cell Therapy Play With Orbital Takeover. Analyst response was lukewarm. BMO Capital Markets noted they continue to look for more from BMS,…

Oct 10, 2025 Fierce Biotech Bullish

BMS inks $1.5B in vivo CAR-T buyout to pull Orbital into its sphere of influence. Bristol Myers' Chief Research Officer Robert Plenge stated: In vivo CAR-T…

Oct 13, 2025 MedCity News Bullish

BMS Joins the In Vivo Cell Therapy Chase With $1.5B Orbital Therapeutics Acquisition. BMS executive Robert Plenge noted that in vivo CAR T represents a novel…

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Bristol Myers Squibb acquired Orbital Therapeutics for ~$1.5 billion in cash. BMS announced the definitive agreement on October 10, 2025, guided that it would close in Q4 2025, and its FY2025 results confirm the acquisition closed in 2025 — BMS recorded a one-time, non-tax-deductible acquired in-process R&D (IPRD) charge (~$1.4 billion total acquired-IPRD for the year, primarily Orbital) and reported the deal as a completed 2025 acquisition. The transaction gives BMS Orbital's RNA immunotherapy platform — integrated linear and circular RNA engineering with targeted lipid-nanoparticle (LNP) delivery — and lead candidate OTX-201, a circular RNA encoding a CD19-directed CAR for in vivo CAR-T expression, initially in B-cell driven autoimmune disease. OTX-201 was in IND-enabling studies at announcement, with clinical development planned to begin in the first half of 2026. The buy extends BMS's run of in vivo cell-therapy deals and broadens potential applications across autoimmune disease, immuno-oncology and other indications.

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Orbital Therapeutics, Inc. (this deal)2025$1.5B
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Medarex Inc.2009$2.4B92
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Celgene Corporation2019$74.0B77
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / MyoKardia Inc.2020$13.1B76
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Karuna Therapeutics2023$14.0B76
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.201176
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company / SystImmune Inc.2023$8.4B71

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