Bristol-Myers Squibb Awards First “Golden Tickets” for LabCentral to PanTher, Suono Bio

NEW YORK & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Bristol-Myers
Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and LabCentral,
an innovative, shared laboratory space designed as a launch pad for
life-sciences and biotech startups, today announced that PanTher and
Suono Bio are the winners of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Golden Tickets for
LabCentral. As a platinum sponsor of LabCentral, Bristol-Myers Squibb
can select up to two innovative life-sciences and biotech startup
companies per year of active sponsorship for “Golden Tickets,” which
underwrite the cost of one lab bench for one year in LabCentral’s
Kendall Square facility.

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“PanTher and Suono Bio are working to deliver innovative technologies
that have the potential to impact patients with serious diseases, and
we’re pleased that the Golden Tickets will enable them to advance their
research,” said Carl Decicco, Ph.D., Head of Discovery at Bristol-Myers
Squibb. “Our sponsorship of LabCentral, and the awarding of Golden
Tickets to these two companies, align with our strategy to encourage
scientific innovations in our disease areas of focus, from academia
through early development.”

“Bristol-Myers Squibb has made an excellent selection of its first two
Golden Ticket winners – we know them both well,” commented LabCentral
Co-Founder and President Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D. “Both have the
potential to make major inroads against devastating diseases using novel
approaches to drug delivery. We are excited to have them join in the
vibrant ecosystem of the LabCentral community and look forward to
watching as these companies move down the path toward success.”

A pre-clinical-stage company, PanTher Therapeutics is working to
revolutionize the treatment of inoperable, locally advanced solid tumors
− studying the direct delivery of existing, already proven chemotherapy
agents directly onto the tumor for consistent, slow release over time.
The company designed its novel delivery method to potentially eliminate
the toxicity and debilitating side effects that chemo agents can produce
when delivered systemically through traditional IV or oral
administration. Its first potential indication is pancreatic cancer, a
particularly lethal disease that affects more than 53,000 Americans
annually, where excruciating symptoms arise from the primary mass
invading nearby vital organs. By changing the route of administration to
target just the tumor, PanTher is designed to increase the amount of
drug reaching the intended destination with the aim to enhance
therapeutic efficacy. Eliminating adverse outcomes may also help to
lower healthcare costs. Pancreatic cancer accounts for about three
percent of all cancers in the U.S. and about seven percent of cancer
deaths. A privately held company, PanTher is completing pre-clinical
studies prior to initiating human trials and exploring opportunities for
partnerships to expand its product pipeline.

Suono Bio, a preclinical stage company, has developed breakthrough
technology − the “SuonoCalm^TM” system − designed to
potentially enable ultra-rapid delivery of therapeutics across tissues,
including the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Preclinical studies have
demonstrated that the ultrasound-based technology can deliver small
molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids locally and systemically,
validating further study of the SuonoCalm system. Designed as an
easy-to-use device to enable patients to self-administer medication at
home, the SuonoCalm technology may also be applicable to a broad set of
conditions outside of the GI tract.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission
is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help
patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about
Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or
follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter,
YouTube
and Facebook.

About LabCentral (www.labcentral.org
; twitter @labcentral)

A 28,000 square-foot facility in the heart of the Kendall Square,
Cambridge, Mass., a biotech innovation hub, LabCentral is a
first-of-its-kind shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for
high-potential life-sciences and biotech startups. It offers fully
permitted laboratory and office space for early-stage companies
comprising approximately 125 scientists and entrepreneurs. LabCentral
provides first-class facility and administrative support, skilled
laboratory personnel, a domain-relevant expert speaker series—as well as
the other critical services and support that startups need to begin
laboratory operations on day one. A private, nonprofit institution,
LabCentral was funded in part by a $5 million grant from the
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, with support from its real-estate
partner, MIT. Founding sponsors include Triumvirate Environmental and
Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term
is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
regarding the research, development and commercialization of
pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties,
including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and
could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from
current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated
together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb’s
business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors
discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2015 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and
our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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