Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement as part of the Immuno-Oncology Rare Population Malignancy (I-O RPM) program in the U.S. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is the latest leading, academic-based cancer center to join the I-O RPM program, which is a multi-institutional initiative focused on the clinical investigation of immuno-oncology therapeutics as potential treatment options for patients with high risk, poor prognostic cancers, defined as a rare population malignancy.

“Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Bristol-Myers Squibb have a shared commitment to patients and to continuing to advance the science in Immuno-Oncology research,” said Laura Bessen, MD, head of U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “We look forward to working with them as part of the I-O RPM program.”

“Recent advances in scientific research have shown the great potential of immuno-oncology agents in hematologic cancers, including myeloma,” commented Dr. Paul Richardson, Clinical Program Leader and Director of Clinical Research of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We look forward to expanding on these findings through the support of the I-O RPM program with the goal of further improving patient outcomes.”

As part of the I-O RPM program, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will conduct a range of early phase clinical studies and Bristol-Myers Squibb will support the training of young investigators who contribute to the I-O RPM program at Dana-Farber.

About I-O RPM

Immuno-oncology is an innovative approach to cancer research and treatment that is designed to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. The I-O RPM research program focuses on significant areas of high unmet need marked by poor outcomes among patients with rare population malignancies. A rare population malignancy is a subpopulation within a higher incident disease population. These patients have aggressive disease with an increased potential for early metastasis to multiple sites and/or are initially refractory or subject to early recurrences with conventional cancer therapies. Existing clinical research provide a strong rationale for further research into the potential of immunotherapies for these cancers.

The I-O RPM research program is a multi-institutional initiative with Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and now the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I-O RPM builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s formation in 2012 of the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON), which is a global collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb and academia focused on facilitating the translation of scientific research findings into clinical trials and, eventually, clinical practice.

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, and YouTube.

About the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is world-renowned for its leadership in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), it is one of the largest recipients among independent hospitals of NCI and National Institutes of Health grant funding. For more information, go to www.dana-farber.org.

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. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the immuno-oncology therapeutics discussed in this release will be successfully developed or approved for any of the indications described in this release, such as multiple myeloma and other hematologic malignancies. 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, 2014 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.