Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) is set to report its earnings on Jan 27. The past quarter has certainly been an absolute roll for this healthcare company, whose stock price has appreciated by 27% in the last quarter. The notion of healthcare products seeming to have an ongoing demand for its products certainly seems close to it, but it has also been the resultant of carefully laid out management plans for its product outlay, research and development as well joint ventures they have undertaken.

There have been a spate of agreements the company has made recently, including a deal with biotechnology company Exelixis to jointly develop two experimental cancer drugs. Under the terms of the collaboration, Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to pay Exelixis an upfront cash payment of $195 million for the development and commercialization rights to both programs. Bristol-Myers Squibb will receive an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize XL281 and will be responsible for funding all future development. Exelixis is eligible for development and regulatory milestones of up to $315 million, sales performance milestones of up to $150 million and double-digit royalties on worldwide sales of XL281, the companies said. The company has joined hands with AstraZeneca in the expansion of their worldwide collaboration to include the development and commercialization of dapagliflozin in Japan. Dapagliflozin, one of two investigational drugs under joint development by the companies, is currently being studied in Phase III clinical trials in several countries, including the U.S., to assess its efficacy and safety as a once-daily treatment for type 2 diabetes. n January 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca entered into a global collaboration, excluding Japan, to enable the companies to research, develop and commercialize dapagliflozin. The companies now have agreed to co-develop dapagliflozin in Japan with AstraZeneca having operational and cost responsibility for all development and regulatory activities on behalf of the collaboration.

In another agreement, Bristol Myers Squibb has signed a collaborative pharmacogenomics agreement with XDx, a molecular diagnostics company focused on noninvasive gene expression tests for the monitoring of immune-mediated conditions. The collaboration is focused on identifying biomarkers in the field of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) for clinical diagnostic purposes associated with the clinical development of Orencia® (abatacept), a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Bristol-Myers Squibb will make an upfront payment to XDx in addition to milestone payments upon the successful achievement of specific research and development objectives. XDx will receive commercial rights to certain diagnostic applications resulting from the collaboration.

Analyst expectations are at $0.41 for the quarter.

Earnings Estimates
Current Estimates: $0.41
Number of Estimates: 13
High Estimate: $0.43
Low Estimate: $0.38
Last Year EPS: $0.33
Percentage Growth: 23.00 %

Disclosure: The author does not own any of the stocks mentioned above.