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Will Breyanzi's Strong Uptake Help BMY Offset Generic Competition?

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Key Takeaways

  • BMY's Breyanzi crossed $1B annualized sales in 2025, driven by strong LBCL uptake.
  • Breyanzi gained FDA approval in marginal zone lymphoma, now spanning five cancer types.
  • BMY faces CAR T competition from Gilead's Yescarta and Novartis' Kymriah amid market pressure.

Bristol Myers’ (BMY - Free Report) CAR T cell therapy Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel) posted strong growth in 2025.

Breyanzi is a CD19-directed CAR T cell therapy with a 4-1BB costimulatory domain, which enhances the expansion and persistence of the CAR T cells.

It is approved in the United States for the treatment of relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) after at least one prior line of therapy. The therapy has also received accelerated approval for the treatment of R/R chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma after at least two prior lines of therapy, and R/R follicular lymphoma (FL) after two or more prior lines of systemic therapy. It is approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after at least two prior lines of systemic therapy.

In December 2025, Breyanzi received FDA approval as the first and only CAR T cell therapy for adults with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma. It is now approved across five cancer types, strengthening its leadership among CD19-directed CAR Ts.

Breyanzi sales surpassed a $1 billion annualized run rate in 2025, reflecting solid uptake in large B-cell lymphoma and contributions from additional indications. BMY is upbeat about Breyanzi’s prospects in 2026.

Bristol Myers is banking on its growth portfolio, which comprises Opdivo, Orencia, Yervoy, Reblozyl, Opdualag, Abecma, Zeposia, Breyanzi, Camzyos, Sotyku, Krazati and others, to drive top-line growth amid a significant decline in legacy drug sales.

BMY Faces Competition in the CAR T Cell Therapy Market

Breyanzi faces competition from Gilead Sciences’ (GILD - Free Report) Yescarta for its approved indications.

Gilead’s Yescarta is a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy indicated for the treatment of adult patients with LBCL that is refractory to first-line chemoimmunotherapy or relapses within 12 months of first-line chemoimmunotherapy. It is also approved for adult patients with relapsed or refractory LBCL after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from FL.

GILD has another CAR T cell therapy in its franchise, Tecartus.

Another approved CAR T therapy is Novartis’ (NVS - Free Report) Kymriah, which is approved for acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is either relapsing or refractory. It is also used in patients with LBCL or FL, two types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, who have relapsed or are refractory after undergoing at least two other kinds of treatment.

NVS’ Kymriah recorded sales of $381 million in 2025, down 14% from 2024 due to competitive pressure.

NVS is also developing another CAR T cell therapy, YTB323, for LBCL.

BMY’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Bristol Myers have gained 7.6% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 3.1%.

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From a valuation standpoint, BMY is trading at a discount to the large-cap pharma industry. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the stock currently trades at 9.33x forward earnings, higher than its mean of 8.53x but lower than the large-cap pharma industry’s 17.14x.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS has moved north to $6.29 from $6.15 in the past 60 days, while that for 2027 has increased to $6.07 from $5.94.

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BMY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

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