BMS Has Come A Long Way From Sal Hepatica
Bristol Myers Squibb is the gift that keeps on giving in west Dublin. Less than two years after the opening of its 125-acre biologics Cruiserath Campus in D15, the American pharma giant recently announced a new facility at the site that will add 350 jobs to the 650 existing roles by 2026.
BMS was one of the first overseas pharmaceutical companies to invest in Ireland, starting off with Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient plant in Swords in 1964. Many of the firm’s international business services are now located in Ireland, including the global HQ for external manufacturing in Blanchardstown, which is also the home of the BMS European treasury centre, commercial operations, and market supply operations team. There is also a distribution centre in Shannon, to dispatch product back to America and around the world.
Bristol Myers Squibb came into being in 1989 with Bristol-Myers merged with Squibb. Both firms have 19th century roots: Edward Squibb was born in 1819, William Bristol was born in 1860, and John Myers was born in 1864, a century before the enterprise reached here.
Bristol-Myers’ first breakthrough product was Sal Hepatica salts, a tonic and laxative launched in 1895 and a company mainstay until 1974. The company had a very brief foray into movie production in the 1970s, producing the cult classic The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
The stated investment cost at Cruiserath was $1bn, and BMS said the
new Sterile Drug Product facility, to be built by 2026, will cost an additional $400m. The pharma company can afford this level of investment because its novel drug formulations, mainly aimed a treating cancer ailments, are very profitable.
Group turnover of $44bn in 2023 delivered a profit of $8bn, a handsome net margin of 18%. American politicians keep promising to do something about the excessive cost of medicines for their citizens, though Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (77) are probably glad to pay any price to keep standing until after November 5.
The Bristol Myers Squibb corporate structure in Ireland includes Swords Laboratories Unlimited Company, which reported sales of $17.3bn in 2022, mainly to other group companies. This company has its head office in Switzerland, and its annual filing references the Swiss corporation tax rate of 12.13%. In 2022 that tax charge was substantial ($840m) as Swords Laboratories booked a pre-tax profit of $6.9bn.
Swords Labs employees are wellrewarded. Average pay two years ago was €113,000, with 913 staff on the payroll also receiving an average of €15,600 in pension and share-based compensation costs.