James M. Cornelius has been appointed chief executive officer of
Bristol-Myers Squibb with a term through 2009. Mr. Cornelius has served as interim chief executive for the past eight months, since the departure of Peter Dolan. He has also been a member of the company's board since January of 2005, previously serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Guidant Corp., chief financial officer of Eli Lilly and Co., and president and chief executive officer of IVAC Corp.
"As we conducted an extensive and thorough CEO search, it became increasingly clear that Jim was the ideal person to continue leading our company," said BMS chairman James D. Robinson III. "It was obvious to the board that his knowledge of the company and the dynamics facing the industry today were vital to our future progress. He has done a splendid job as CEO, and we couldn't be more pleased that he has agreed to stay in this role."
Since September, Mr. Cornelius has overseen the implementation of the company's strategic effort to reduce costs and mitigate risks while allowing the company to advance its pipeline and prepare for the next wave of new products. As part of this effort, BMS recently announced several partnerships including an agreement with AstraZeneca to co-develop and co-commercialize two late-stage diabetes compounds; an agreement with Pfizer to co-develop and co-commercialize apixaban, an anti-clotting agent; an agreement with Exelixis to discover and develop oncology compounds; a collaboration with Biocon and Accenture to expand the company's R&D presence in India; and a licensing agreement for diabetes compound saxagliptin in Japan.
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