Continuing its String of Pearls strategy of enhancing its pipeline via alliances and acquisitions, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has agreed to buy Amira Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to US$475 M. With the acquisition, BMS will gain access to Amira’s fibrosis programme, including its lead asset AM152, which has completed Phase I studies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and scleroderma, as well as its preclinical autotaxin programme that may have use in the treatment of neuropathic pain and cancer metastases.