By Sabrina Valle and Michael Erman
Aug 2 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc and Bristol Myers Squibb held preliminary discussions about a possible combination that would create one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies with a combined value of nearly $400 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The Financial Times first reported the news. Reuters could not determine whether the talks are ongoing.
A potential deal would carry regulatory risk because of concerns about how it might
be assessed by U.S. antitrust authorities under President Donald Trump's administration, the person said on condition of anonymity. Trump has been focusing on domestic investments in the sector and expanding U.S. manufacturing.
While AstraZeneca last year unveiled plans for a direct U.S. listing, aiming to capitalize on stronger valuations in the U.S. market, such a deal would mean a UK-based company would effectively be buying a major U.S. pharmaceutical champion.
AstraZeneca declined to comment, while Bristol Myers did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
STRONG GROWTH IN CANCER DRUGS
AstraZeneca's share price has more than quadrupled during Pascal Soriot's 14-year tenure as CEO, soaring above the wider FTSE 100 index and main British rival GSK.
Second-quarter results last week showed strong demand for cancer and rare-disease drugs continues to drive AstraZeneca's growth. Cancer treatments accounted for about $25 billion in 2025 sales, nearly half of the total, followed by cardiovascular, renal and metabolism treatments worth about $12 billion.
Oncology drugs accounted for more than 40% of Bristol Myers' overall sales in the first six months of 2026, and the two companies' cancer immunotherapies directly compete.
"I would expect a Trump FTC to scrutinize the merger, and if there are significant overlaps in certain drugs and late-stage pipeline overlaps, it would require meaningful divestitures," said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer with DBM Law Group, referring to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Bristol Myers has been doing smaller deals to gain new drugs as it faces declining sales of older medicines, some of which will soon face generic competition.
In 2019, Bristol Myers bought Celgene for about $80 billion, acquiring its flagship blood cancer drug Revlimid, which became Bristol's top-selling product. Revlimid has already lost patent protection and its current top sellers — cancer immunotherapy Opdivo and blood thinner Eliquis — could lose patent protection by 2028.
Barlow noted that in the deal for Celgene, the Trump FTC required Celgene to sell psoriasis treatment Otezla, a major divestiture at $13.4 billion.
"There is bipartisan support to scrutinize pharma deals, so I would imagine that even the Trump FTC would ask the broader questions relating to bundling of products and a lack of future innovation, in addition to scrutinizing all direct overlaps," he said.
Bristol Myers raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast last week as strong sales of Eliquis and newer medicines pushed second-quarter results well past analysts' estimates.
Its promising newer drugs and pipeline assets include an experimental blood thinner milvexian, anemia treatment Reblozyl and heart drug Camzyos.
Consideration of the potential deal comes about a dozen years after AstraZeneca fended off a takeover attempt by larger U.S. rival Pfizer.
Large pharmaceutical deals have been rare in recent years, in part due to concerns about antitrust and U.S. pressure to keep drug prices low. Besides the Bristol Myers and Celgene deal, AbbVie bought Allergan in 2020 and Takeda and Shire combined in 2019.
(Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Michael Erman in New York and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Chris Sanders in Washington; Editing by Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot and Paul Simao)
