“BMS makes the next leap with its solid pipeline”

Hye-Young Lee, Country Manager, BMS Korea

“Open innovation is in the company’s DNA, will expand cooperation with Korea”

“Preparing introduction of various drugs including CAR-T therapy”

이혜영 대표

Mergers have become one of the main survival strategies for global multinational pharmaceutical companies.

 

In addition to buying new substances, companies are also making synergy, absorbing companies that own pipelines with high potential.

 

BMS is one representative example of such successful mergers.

 

When the power of its portfolio declining with the patent expiration of blockbuster drugs such as 'Baraclude Tab.', the company decided to acquired Celgene, the company that owns ‘Revlimid,’ the drug that recorded the highest sales among prescription drugs at the time.

 

In addition to CAR-T therapy, Celgene owned various candidate substances in various areas including blood cancer.

 

In addition, the company also signed an agreement to copromote ‘Opdivo’ with the Japanese pharmaceutical company ‘Opdivo,’ to build competitivity in the oncology sector.

 

Its Korean subsidiary is also working to quickly conclude the merger process and make the next leap with the organizational restructuring.

 

In this whirlwind of change, the company has newly welcomed a new leader.

 

Hye-Young Lee, who has serves as the founding Country Manager of BMS, is dreaming of a new heyday at BMS with her appointment in July.

 

Dailypharm met with the new Country Manager.

 

-It hasn’t been long since you took office.

 

Some might think it is too early to conduct an interview.

 

Is there a reason why you decided to do the interview at this time? I wanted to publicize BMS as it is now.

 

Since we have not conducted many external activities, including media activities, I thought that our business scale and the potential for growth has not been well known.

 

Although there are still a lot of things that I would need to understand in terms of business, I thought it would be good to start by relaying the changed status of our company and its future direction.

 

-You have been a Country Manager before, but this is a new company.

 

What was your first impression about BMS?? As I had only known the company as a member in the same industry before, I was surprised in many aspects after joining the company.

 

BMS's business scale, global presence, and pipelines were much stronger than I expected, and the company owns various industry-leading promising pipelines.

 

-Could you introduce some of those strong pipelines? BMS’s main pipeline cover the 5 fields including Cardiology, Hematology, Oncology, Immunology, and Neuroscience.

 

More than 50 new drug candidates for more than 40 diseases are being developed in these five areas.

 

Based on those that received current domestic or FDA approval, we have Revlimid and Sprycel in Hematology, as well as Onurec, Inrevic, and Reblozyl that were additionally approved this year.

 

In addition, two CAR-T treatments approved by the FDA are receiving much anticipation these days.

 

Our cardiovascular pipeline has been further strengthened by acquiring a company called Myokardia, and there is a treatment for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy that was approved by the US FDA this year.

 

This first-in-class treatment with a new mechanism of action has been receiving high expectations.

 

We cannot disclose details as it has not been approved in Korea yet, but we are working hard to introduce it quickly to domestic patients.

 

In terms of Immunology, there are treatments for plaque psoriasis and ulcerative colitis with a new mechanism of action that has been recently approved by the FDA.

 

In addition, the treatments it acquired from Turning Point Therapeutics are also from a new class but is yet to be approved in Korea.

 

-BMS two new CAR-T therapies, Breyanzi and Abecma.

 

The two are also in the process of approval.

 

When looking at existing cases, simply introducing CART-T therapies is not enough, and many other preparations are needed for their prescription.

 

How are you preparing for this part? As CAR-T is an innovative therapy that is needed by many patients in Korea, we are continuously reviewing the preparations necessary for the patients in need of treatment in Korea.

 

However, as mentioned, use of CAR-T therapies require various considerations and preparations, therefore, its introduction requires more time.

 

One encouraging fact is that a clinical trial is planned for one of the CAR-T therapies in Korea.

 

It is expected that the experience we are accumulating with clinical trials will be helpful when introducing CAR-T treatments in the future -If you look at BMs, the company is actively engaging in mergers, joint development, and promotion activities.

 

Is there a possibility of expanding such partnerships with Korean companies? Open innovation is the DNA of BMS, to such an extent that 60% of the BMS pipeline has been secured through open innovation, and 40% of current sales were accrued from drugs developed through open innovation.

 

We also plan to actively carry out open innovation in Korea, and a lot of clinical trials are already underway.

 

There are 50 clinical trials in progress in about 20 pipelines in progress in Korea.

 

Unlike the past, where many clinical trials for new drug development were traditionally conducted in the US and Europe, Korea is now in the spotlight in conducting early-phase clinical trials, and is also considered one of the most important countries in terms of expansion.

 

One aspect I found impressive after joining the company was in the number of early clinical trials being conducted in Korea.

 

6 Phase I clinical trials are underway, and the company is also seeking ways to collaborate with one of the country's major hospitals for basic research related to oncology and hematology.