Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

January 11, 2021

New York Stock Exchange US Health Care Pharmaceuticals conference_presentation 41 min

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Christopher Schott

analyst
#1

Good morning, everybody. I'm Chris Schott at JPMorgan, and it's my pleasure to introduce Giovanni Caforio, Chairman and CEO of Bristol-Myers to once again kick off the 39th annual and hopefully only virtual JPMorgan conference. Before I turn it over to Giovanni, I just want to remind everybody, this is a 40-minute session. And if anybody has a question for the Q&A portion of today's meeting, [Operator Instructions]. With that, I'll turn the floor over to Giovanni.

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#2

Thank you, Chris, and good morning. Good morning, everyone. It's great to be here at JPMorgan again this year, although virtually. And on Slide 2, you can see our forward-looking statements. Let me start on Slide 3 by briefly reminding you about our strategy, which is to combine the innovation and agility of biotech with the strength and resources of a pharmaceutical company. As you know, this has been at the core of our strategy for well over a decade. Now turning to Slide 4. During last year, we laid the foundation required to realize our potential. Let me remind you, the Celgene acquisition was intended to strengthen the company for the long term by allowing us to create a company with a younger, more diversified portfolio of medicines in the second half of the decade when Eliquis and Opdivo faced loss of exclusivity in the '28-'29 time frame and with significant cash flows over the next few years that provide us with the financial strength to continue to invest in R&D, and at the same time, source incremental assets outside the company, all to accelerate the renewal of our portfolio. Our strategy is playing out well. Strong execution last year has put the pieces in place that we need in order to succeed. Integration has been successful to date, and the organization is executing very well. Based on progress last year and incremental opportunities in '22 and '23, we now expect total synergies to be close to $3 billion by 2023. I'm proud of the talent we have brought together and the high engagement in the organization. Today, we are a diverse and inclusive company addressing health equity issues, including working on an innovative program to improve diversity in clinical trials. Our in-line businesses are strong. Opdivo launched in first-line lung and is returning to growth this year, with a leading position in the adjuvant space. We strengthened the IP for Eliquis. Overall, we have increased confidence in the potential growth of both assets well into the second half of the decade. Several launches are underway, including Reblozyl and ZEPOSIA, and we are about to enter cell therapy with liso-cel and ide-cel. We've advanced the next set of opportunities with successful Phase III trials for deucravacitinib in psoriasis and ZEPOSIA in ulcerative colitis. We continued to strengthen the company through business development, including the acquisition of MyoKardia, which brings another asset with multibillion-dollar potential to the company. We continued to solidify the IP outlook for Revlimid, further increasing our conviction in the cash flows that will support additional business development. On Slide 5, you can see that today, BMS is already a more diversified company. We have established leadership positions across oncology, hematology, CV and immunology. We have leading commercial presence across all of these areas and a number of exciting launches underway, many with significant expansion opportunities. I'm also very excited about the breadth and depth of our early pipeline, our ability to continue to drive breakthrough innovation and further strengthen our scientific leadership. Ultimately, this is why I am confident the company will be successful in the long term. Now moving to Slide 6. I know that many of you are asking how we will overcome important patent expiries during the decade. These are important questions. And today, I want to tell you how I see the future of the company, starting with how we navigate the Revlimid loss of exclusivity and focusing on how we are preparing the company for the time frame when Eliquis and Opdivo patent expiries begin to play out. First of all, we begin we can more than offset the impact of near-term parent expiries and grow our revenue and earnings through '25. I will describe shortly how we see that happening and what the company can look like in '25. Our key objective is to prepare BMS to be well positioned in the second half of the decade, which we plan to accomplish by maximizing our current launches; continuing to invest in expansion opportunities for our launch portfolio, many of which are clinically derisked today; advancing the most meaningful assets from our midstage pipeline; and leveraging our financial strength to source additional growth drivers through disciplined business development. Slide 7 provides context regarding our growth outlook for '25 -- '20 through '25. On the left-hand side of the slide, you can see the consensus view of our growth, including the major drivers in this period. We are expected to deliver top line growth with our in-line portfolio and launches more than offsetting the revenue impact from LOEs. We generally agree with this level of growth, and we expect to deliver low to mid-single-digit top line CAGR during this period. That said, we are more bullish on the potential of the launch brands based on the value of the assets, their differentiated profiles and our confidence in our commercial capabilities. Overall, this leads to a similar outcome and a somewhat younger portfolio in '25 compared to consensus. In fact, when looking at our continuing business, which excludes Revlimid and Pomalyst, we see the potential for low double-digit CAGR between '20 and '25. And this is important because it means that we expect to see very robust momentum into the second half of the decade from this portfolio. Also, our financial strength remains significant with strong profitability and free cash flows of $45 billion to $50 billion expected during '21 to '23 million. Slide 8 provides a view of our company in 2025. Our continuing business will represent approximately 90% of the company. Most importantly, the portfolio of launch brands will represent approximately 30% of continuing business. This underestimates the contribution of new brands as we report 100% of Eliquis sales, but split profits 50-50. And while the mix of our business evolves, we expect to maintain operating margin in the low to mid-40s. Throughout this period, we will continue the process of renewing our business. Our launches of today will become a diversified portfolio of high-margin in-line growth products. We expect to have derisked significant expansion opportunities for these assets. We will have advanced our pipeline with many of our early and midstage assets becoming the next set of launches and Phase III assets. And we'll have continued to invest in growth generating business development. Now moving to Slide 9. With this base in place, let me tell you about the opportunities we have to continue to strengthen the company over the following years in preparation for LOEs beginning in 28 and 29. First, the launch brands of today have significant potential. With the inclusion of mavacamten, we believe this portfolio has between $20 million and $25 billion of nonrisk-adjusted peak sales potential in 2029. Secondly, based on our reach mid- to late-stage pipeline, we are accelerating the next generation of potential medicines, including assets such as our Factor XIa and our multiple myeloma CELMoD, iberdomide and 480. And thirdly, we will continue to leverage business development to complement our robust internal portfolio like we've done with MyoKardia. As we look at the continued evolution of our portfolio, we see the ability to maintain operating margins in the low to mid-40s throughout this period, supporting ability to invest in both internal and external innovation. On Slide 10, you can see the significant potential of our launch portfolio with nonrisk-adjusted peak sales in '29 of $20 billion to $25 billion. Remember that this is a nonrisk-adjusted figure, which is a key reason why consensus numbers are lower. Today, we are describing the portfolio in more detail, including our forecast of the size of the opportunity, articulating which are the key assets as well as the launch indication, additional indications that are now derisked with registrational data and further expansion opportunities. Recognizing how broad this portfolio is, today, I will only focus the next few slides on a few key assets that we're very excited about, which we've highlighted on this page. I want to assure you we remain really confident about ZEPOSIA and our cell therapy portfolio. We'll now move to some more detailed slides for a few important assets beginning on Slide 11 with deucravacitinib, our TYK2 inhibitor. This is an asset with very significant commercial potential in our emerging immunology franchise. We see a real need for patients with autoimmune conditions to have access to oral medicines that are both effective and have a favorable safety profile. Deucravacitinib is an important potential medicine in this regard because, in our view, it's highly differentiated. The science tells us that this drug is a very selective inhibitor of IL-12, -23 and type 1 interferon and the clinical profile that's emerging continues to be consistent with that. We now have the first Phase III study for psoriasis in-house, and the readout for our second study is coming soon. Finally, with this medicine, it's about building a larger franchise in additional indications, starting with psoriatic arthritis, which should start registrational trials this year and the potential for further expansion into UC, Crohn's and possibly lupus with Phase II data starting to read out later this year. Turning to Reblozyl on Slide 12, which is off to a very strong start. We believe that this medicine has significant potential to benefit patients and more than $4 billion in nonrisk-adjusted revenue projected in '29. Reblozyl is highly differentiated as the first erythroid maturation agent to treat severe forms of anemia in beta-thalassemia and MDS that today is managed mainly with nonapproved ESA drugs. We believe that the current indication has a lot of potential as seems clear from the launch so far. And we expect that the COMMANDS study in first-line MDS, regardless of RS status, has the potential to unlock very significant upside as you can see from the size of the addressable market. And beyond MDS, we're also pursuing additional opportunities for Reblozyl in combination with JAK for anemia in myelofibrosis. Mavacamten, our newest opportunity is here on Slide 13. We view this asset as having multibillion-dollar sales potential in obstructive HCM alone. Within this space, there are already roughly 80,000 to 100,000 patients each in the U.S. and EU who are symptomatic and could benefit from this medicine. Today, there are no options available for them that can potentially address the underlying disease. And there is the potential to expand the addressable population by ensuring that more patients with this disease get diagnosed. Further expansion of mavacamten is also possible with plans in progress for registrational trials in nonobstructive HCM and a Phase II trial in a select group of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction to begin soon. We see this drug as having the potential to accelerate the renewal of our CV franchise with a launch possibly as early as this year and very significant potential to support growth in the second half of the decade. And remember that due to the relationship with our partner for Eliquis, every dollar of mavacamten revenue replaces $2 of Eliquis revenue from a bottom line perspective. And furthermore, the acquisition of MyoKardia is a clear example of how we can continue to strengthen the growth profile of the company in the latter part of the decade through disciplined business development. On Slide 14, we are highlighting our Factory XIa inhibitor. We are awaiting data from Phase II trials to confirm our scientific hypothesis in the clinic. And if the drug has the profile we're hoping for, it has considerable potential. The profile we are looking for is an anticoagulant that could allow us to address better unmet clinical needs in areas where Factor Xa inhibitors aren't currently used or are underutilized without the risk of excess bleeding. If that's the case, we see significant potential from improving the standard of care in the current indication set for NOACs as well as the potential to expand to combinations with antiplatelet therapies. And as you know, these are very significant commercial opportunities. We will see the first Phase II data later this year. Moving to our hematology pipeline on Slide 15. I wanted to point out a set of assets that we believe are strategically important for us. We've already seen data in refractory patients for both iberdomide and the more potent 480. The data shows that these drugs are active even in patients who have failed IMiDs, proteasome inhibitors and anti-CD38 inhibitors. At ASH last year, we showed that there is potential benefit to combining iberdomide with standard therapies, such as DARZALEX and VELCADE, which is an important step in moving these agents into earlier lines of therapy. So we intend to initiate trials in earlier lines this year. For iberdomide, we should update later this year from the cohort D expansion population from our stack, and if supportive, this data could be the basis for a discussion with the FDA. Importantly, these assets provide us with an opportunity to create combination treatments that are unique to us and allow us to sustain our leadership position in multiple miles. Now moving to Slide 16. The combination of BMS and Celgene has allowed us to build an industry-leading research organization, which is the innovation engine for our long-term future. We have a robust early pipeline across multiple platforms with over 50 early-stage assets, of which over 20 can progress through proof-of-concept in the next 2 to 3 years. Internally, we have focused our resources on areas where we can be industry leaders. We are highlighting 4 areas, including protein homeostasis, cell therapy, immuno-oncology and human genetics. We've also reconfigured our external research strategy, and we are building a broad network of biopharma partners that give us access to new technologies to address important biological questions. A few recent examples include partnerships with Dragonfly, insitro and Repare. Now turning to capital allocation on Slide 17. Business development is a top priority, and we remain focused on reducing debt to further strengthen our ability to invest in further -- future growth, increasing the dividend and opportunistic share repurchases. Now in this context and in light of the fact that the CVR payout will no longer happen as originally planned, you'll see that we've announced an increase in our share repurchase authorization and we plan to execute an additional $2 billion share repurchase this year in addition to activity, which was already planned to offset the impact of stock-based compensation. Importantly, we also plan to strengthen our balance sheet to support capacity for additional business development by accelerating repayment of $4 billion of debt into this year. Knowing how important business development is, let me take a moment on Slide 18 to tell you how we are thinking about it. I mentioned earlier, our acquisition of MyoKardia is a great example of how we can use business development to strengthen our growth profile in the long term. We continue to employ consistent criteria to ensure we remain disciplined about how we look at potential deals. They need to be strategically aligned, scientifically compelling and financially sound. What I can also tell you is that within that framework, we will continue to look for midsized bolt-on deals that further strengthen our objective to grow the company into the second half of the decade. We are continually evaluating opportunities and have significant financial flexibility to execute when we see a deal that makes sense for us. Now moving to Slide 19. As we continue to execute our strategy, we plan to update you on key milestones through this scorecard. Our areas of focus will include key financial, pipeline and commercial performance components. This will tell us how well we are tracking on our journey to renew our portfolio and support growth for the long term. To close on Slide 20. In summary, our strategy is playing out well. Through excellent execution last year, we have laid a strong foundation for our new company. Today, Bristol-Myers Squibb is a leading biopharma company. We have diversified our portfolio with leading positions in oncology, hematology, immunology and CV. In each of these businesses, we have leading in-line medicines, significant short-term launch opportunities and a rich pipeline. We are a science leader with unique capabilities and talent, driving differentiated science. The breadth and depth of our investment in internal R&D, coupled with our strategy to continue to source external innovation through business development, make me confident in our ability to continue to strengthen our leadership positions across key areas. The profitability of our business and our strong financial flexibility enable us to continue to invest in growth-enriching external innovation. We are in a good place to grow through 2025 and position the company to more successfully navigate the Opdivo and Eliquis LOEs. The strong execution demonstrated in 2020 is a clear indication of our resolve to execute this strategy going forward. And we look forward to continuing to update you as our pipeline progresses, and we reach important milestones in our journey. Thank you.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#3

Great. Giovanni, I appreciate the prepared remarks there and a lot of incremental details. Maybe just -- actually, maybe before I start the Q&A, a reminder of people since we're doing this virtually, [Operator Instructions] We had a few come in, but I'm just going to start with a few. I guess, maybe first, talk about the Celgene integration and synergy potential. I think you talked about targeting $3 billion of cost saves now. I guess what's enabling that higher level of savings? And should we think about that being reinvested back into the business given all the R&D initiatives that you've laid out or that incremental savings, should we think about that dropping to the bottom line?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#4

Thank you, Chris. Well, first of all, let me say, I'm really pleased with how the integration of Celgene is going. In terms of the work that we did even before closing, it prepared us to hit the ground running at closing. And last year, we accelerated integration, probably even beyond what we had expected. Now when you look at where the synergies are coming from, very similar to what we had communicated where they equally come from third-party suppliers and that's really part of the procurement, they come from having a redesigned and leading an active organization with very rapidly on all fronts. We made a lot of progress last year, and we identified some incremental synergy in 2020. What's interesting is that at the same time, as we integrated the companies, the engagement in the organization has remained record high, ability to execute has not been impacted. So I'm very proud of that and that showed really the results of the last year. So in terms of what do we do with the [ strategy ] and how do we think about business development going forward, let me say that, obviously, we have an opportunity. We continue to invest [indiscernible] to advance the pipeline. At the same time, we've always demonstrated in terms of how we manage. So you will have seen and I provided some perspective on our operating margin for -- between '20 and '25 and then the second half of the decade in [indiscernible]. I think from my perspective, even the most important part of our financial strength is our balance sheet estimate.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#5

Okay. You mentioned margins being maintained in that low to 40 -- low to mid-40% range. I know that's certainly one of the questions I get and concerns in the market is as we head through this patent cycle, you have to think about significant margin erosion for Bristol. So can you just elaborate a little bit more on what gives you confidence in being able to maintain these very high margins as we think, particularly into that kind of mid-decade period of time where we start hitting some of the LOES.

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#6

Sure. Obviously, the biggest component is the mix of the portfolio. And so we do recognize that there are products with very different profitability in our portfolio today when you look at on one side Revlimid; on the other side, Eliquis, because of the partnership with our partner there. And as we look at the portfolio of the future, we see the opportunity to create fairly large and very differentiated oral medicines that will have strong profitability. There is obviously a new portfolio as well, but it will continue to be strong. And then the second component, of course, is related to the product efficiency of our organization where we have demonstrated to manage very competitive area [ as factors ], and I see that continuing in the future.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#7

Great. And maybe one final one just from the presentation. I know you talked about maybe being in line with consensus in the out years, but a product mix that skews more towards the launch brands than maybe from some of the legacy assets. Is there particular assets in that launch portfolio you'd highlight where you think The Street would see there is still maybe too heavily risk adjusting or where you have more confidence than The Street does? I'm just trying to get a sense of is there 2 or 3 assets in there we should be maybe paying a bit more attention to as we think about the longer-term profile?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#8

Yes. I think that from my perspective, we've highlighted assets we're really excited about. I -- a couple of comments that I would like to make. The launch of Reblozyl is off to a really strong start, and I believe that medicine will be a very important medicine for us. We are learning new data for our TYK2 inhibitor, deucravacitinib. And I believe that, that can be a really important medicine for Bristol-Myers. We have data in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. I look forward to [indiscernible] data in -- Phase II data in [indiscernible] lupus and ulcerative colitis. And I believe that asset has the potential for foundational medicine. And obviously, we're learning about mavacamten is massive in the portfolio. And I think that asset is [indiscernible] last year in an area that we know well and the unmet medical need is very high. So obviously, every time I speak about some of the assets [indiscernible], [ I'm not mentioning very ] important. But from my perspective, these are 3 assets that I chose to highlight for the company.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#9

Great. And maybe just on those couple of assets you highlighted. Maybe first on mavacamten, can you talk about patient identification and how you're envisioning uptake of the drug? It seems like at one hand, there -- it's a big unmet need. There seems a lot of opportunity there. On the other hand, it's a new approach. Is this a market we should think about ramping quickly? Or is this one of these markets that's going to take a few years to really educate and build over time as we -- I think you talked about the $4 billion-plus peak opportunity. Just help us think a little bit about if this is approved in '21, is this quickly going to be a large product? Or are we thinking about a multiyear launch here before we really see the potential of the asset?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#10

Sure. So what we know is that today, there are 80,000 to 100,000 patients in both Europe and the U.S. that are already diagnosed. And those patients are receiving symptomatic drugs that are products like beta-blockers, for example, that have really not been developed to address the underlying condition of the business. So there is an opportunity to have a more rapid impact in a segment of the population that has already been diagnosed symptomatic [indiscernible] foreign effect. So of course, there is a second element of the strategy, which is to repeat diagnosis rate into a broader patient population [ not yet diagnosed ] and so that is the second step. And when you think about sort of launch strategy for that asset, we plan on starting with 20% of cardiologists that are in specialized centers that have a large number of the existing patients, then with a plan for a broader population of cardiologists. Eventually, we will go to primary care, to referrals and diagnosis. So it's not very different from the sequential strategy we adopted [indiscernible].

Christopher Schott

analyst
#11

Makes sense, makes sense. Just another one, just on the new product launch. On the TK 2, one question we get here is we've -- it seems like psoriasis, so far, so good. The safety profile so far, so good. How, I guess, indicative of success in these other indications? Are these -- whether it's psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, do you see that as a direct read across to the breadth of indications as we think about whether it's IBD or lupus? I think part of the opportunity with this drug is, as you said, a lot of the immunology drugs this breadth of indication can create some very meaningful peak sales potential. How confident are you of -- that this is going to work in not just one indication, but could end up being 3, 4 or 5 different indications over time?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#12

Yes. Let me maybe step back for a second and give you my perspective on inhibitor. First of all, it's a very selective inhibitor of IL-12, -23 and pipeline [indiscernible] and we think that reflected in efficacy. We are seeing in play out in the safety profile. So I know I get a lot of questions about that and we don't see the lab change once you do that [indiscernible]. So we're confident what is changing is good efficacy profile with, as you know, we've seen data in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. And obviously, we are going to have to wait for the [indiscernible] and ulcerative colitis whether it's IL-12 and -23 and SLE to see whether we see a profile that we like pipeline [indiscernible]. So far, what we are seeing is that our hypothesis, and I agree with you that we have an opportunity to build a franchise across multiple indications [indiscernible] it's the reason why I'm highlighting one of the very promising assets.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#13

Yes, yes. Absolutely. And then just a couple -- maybe one or 2 others on the pipeline. I know with the liso-cel application, we didn't hit the PDUFA. Just confidence in that approval at this point. Is there anything that you'd like to highlight there? Are you still confident that, that gets to go in, I guess, at some point in the near term?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#14

I am confident in the approval of liso-cel, and we continue to be working with the FDA. I'm confident in the approval of liso-cel. And I'm very confident in the profile of liso-cel as a very differentiated CAR-T for -- in its indication, so the efficacy, but also the safety profile, which enables a very different type of utilization.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#15

Okay. Great. Just to pivot a little bit to Opdivo. I know we've got a number of important launches as we think about 2021. What are the ones you really highlight to us that we should be watching? And how do -- as we think about kind of pivoting back to growth, how do you see that playing out? Is this going to be kind of building all year? Is there one particular indication that kind of gets us there? I'm trying to get a sense of the recovery of that asset as we go through the year. And I'm just getting one question from the web. I guess -- I think, Giovanni, sometimes your mic's going in and out a little bit, so if you could maybe -- I don't know what you can do on that front. But if you can address that would be as well. Yes.

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#16

So let me -- hopefully, you can hear me.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#17

That's perfect.

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#18

Let me answer about Opdivo. First of all, let me say, we see Opdivo growing. It's a growth brand. We see it growing this year and we're very pleased with where we are. We had so many positive data readouts last year that we're very confident in the opportunity in the future. I would point to a number of areas. First of all, the launch in first-line lung is going very well. I'm very pleased with that launch and the adoption in the first-line lung. That's one. Second, we have a number of metastatic -- opportunities in the metastatic setting. And obviously, one that is important is gastric. The second one is expanding our presence in first-line renal with the CABO combination that is coming. So that's a second set of opportunity. And the third one, I would say, over time, we're building a really strong presence in the adjuvant space. And adjuvant is one of the next strong units of growth. And as you know, we already have data in 4 tumor types. We're expecting incremental data readouts [indiscernible] in lung cancer and renal cancer. So adjuvant will continue to build over time being a growth brand, and I'm very excited about what has happened from that perspective last year, and the opportunity that we have to...

Christopher Schott

analyst
#19

Great. And obviously, a lot of opportunities coming. The headwind you've seen from second-line lung, is that largely kind of in the rearview mirror at this point? Do you think second line has kind of bottomed at this point? Or is there still a little bit of headwind that maybe offsets these launches?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#20

It's sort of behind us in terms of new patient starts in second-line lung. There is some small remaining impact in terms of continuing patients. But I would say for the most part, it's grown as we were anticipating. It's most of it is behind us.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#21

Okay. Great. Just in the last few minutes here, just pivoting over to capital deployment. I know you touched on this a bit in the presentation. Just what's the appetite at this point? I guess one question I get is that, on one hand, the company is -- has a really dominant position in oncology, which -- where there's a lot of innovation occurring. It seems like a lot of potential to add to the portfolio. On the other hand, there's this element of diversification. So do you want to be as exposed to this, just given the level of innovation and regulatory changes, things like that. How do you think about balancing -- expanding that oncology portfolio where you can leverage the portfolio -- the existing assets as compared to further diversifying and building some of these other verticals, whether it's immunology or cardiovascular as you think about the BD approach?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#22

Yes, Chris, let me say, first of all, we are a diversified company today already. If you look at the progress we've made in our immunology franchise in the last 12 months alone with ZEPOSIA and deucravacitinib advancing, I think that's been part of the business for us. So my first message is we'll be more diversified already. Second part, I would say, business development I see playing a really important role for us. And it's really -- the answer I would give you is in one of the areas where we have strong expertise, whether that's oncology, hematology, immunology, it's obviously the big [indiscernible]. So I think what's most important is that we are committed in continuing to leverage business development to strengthen our growth outlook. And I've mentioned in my remarks midsized bolt-on deals like we did with MyoKardia then the right opportunity, we're in a really strong position to continue [indiscernible].

Christopher Schott

analyst
#23

So a deal of MyoKardia size is very much -- if the right asset were there, that's something that you'd be financially in a position that you could act on at any time, is that fair to say?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#24

I think that -- yes, we definitely have the flexibility to do that given the right asset. And from our perspective, when I look at business development, you will continue to see us do deals that strengthen our research platforms and the long-term growth prospects of the company. But midsized bolt-on deals are something that we look at all the time as an opportunity.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#25

Okay. And one question I'm getting just on that topic, when you think about business development versus share repo, I know you're announcing an incremental $2 billion repo today, how does the -- you've had a lot of positive news flow in the stock. We've been surprised and a lot of investors have been surprised we haven't seen more of a reaction in the stock price. How does repo fit into the capital allocation mix versus BD? On one hand, it seems like the more confidence you can give us in the long term, it should be multiple expanding; on the flip side, your stock seems undervalued here. So when you're looking at capital allocation, how does that factor in?

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#26

Well, from our perspective, I've been very clear: business development remains a central pillar. As you said, today, we've announced an incremental share repurchase program for $2 billion. So opportunistically, we are open to continue to do that. But from my perspective, we are investing in opportunities that strengthen the long-term growth profile of the company. That should be the priority for us and it will continue to be the priority going forward.

Christopher Schott

analyst
#27

Great. Well, I think we're just all out of time. Giovanni, really appreciate the comments. It seems like a pretty eventful 2021 ahead. Thanks for joining us today, though. And have a good day.

Giovanni Caforio

executive
#28

Thanks, everyone.

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