By Jared S. Hopkins

Bristol-Myers Squibb Chief Executive Chris Boerner said at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything festival on Thursday that potential tariffs targeting the drug industry from the Trump administration must not create supply constraints.

Bristol and other drugmakers are bracing for tariffs targeting pharmaceuticals shipped to the U.S. from other countries. The administration has been conducting an investigation into such levies, and analysts expect them to be announced in coming weeks.

"The most important thing we've been doing on this topic is engaging with the administration to educate them on how if you're going to do tariffs-it may not be the policy we would have preferred-but if you're going to do it, do it without messing things up," he said.

Boerner said tariffs need to reflect the time it takes to shift manufacturing around, and the complex pharmaceutical supply chain, one dependent on raw materials for drugs coming from across the world, and deciding where and when to invest in manufacturing years ahead, before drugs are made commercially.

"If you don't get that right you will end up with supply constraints, and that's something nobody wants, including the administration," he said.

Princeton, N.J.-based Bristol is one of the largest drugmakers in the world, with revenue last year totaling more than $48 billion. It makes medicines treating cancer, immune diseases and other conditions.

Boerner said Bristol produces its cutting-edge cell therapies for Asia in the U.S.-it sells Breyanzi and Abecma-but many of the ingredients for them come from Asia. If those materials are subject to tariffs, Boerner said, then Bristol would be incentivized to produce the medicines in Asia, the opposite of the administration's goals. "How you do this, if you want to achieve the outcome of us investing more in the U.S., has to be done in a smart way."

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

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May 29, 2025 14:35 ET (18:35 GMT)

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