Pharmaceutical giant strikes $550m outsourcing deal

Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb has signed a 10-year outsourcing deal worth $550m.

The multinational firm, which has its UK headquarters in Uxbridge, Middlesex, is farming out its application development and maintenance, as well as a range of finance and accounting support services across the company.

Accenture has been picked to provide the services in 22 languages, covering Bristol-Myers Squibb's outlets in Europe, America and Asia.

The deal extends and expands a four-year outsourcing agreement the two companies signed in 2004 for application maintenance and accounts payable services.

Paul von Autenried, vice president and CIO, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said in a statement that the deal will enable the company to boost "productivity and support our strategic transformation to a next-generation BioPharma company", as well as providing greater flexibility.

Fellow pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca recently signed a $1.4bn, seven-year global outsourcing deal with IBM for it to provide a single technical infrastructure for AZ, covering 60 countries.