Bristol-Myers Squibb Co in a report on Thursday, held that it would focus its efforts solely on cancer research. This meant that the pharmaceutical major would discontinue its research and developmental efforts in all other segments.

The company said that it plans to expand its presence in research centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, thereby expanding its research and development in the San Francisco Bay area. At the new centre in Cambridge, the company's scientists would direct their efforts to make discoveries in genetically defined diseases, molecular discovery technologies and discovery platform chemistry, mainly towards making interventions in cancer treatment.

In fact, the New York-based drugmaker intends to shut down facilities in Wallingford, Connecticut, and Waltham, Massachusetts, by 2018 and will relocate as many as 700 of its employees. It will also shut down two sites as it wishes to stall its virology development, including research in hepatitis B and HIV. However, this would not affect ongoing drug development or virus treatments that are currently marketed.

The company wishes to direct its efforts only on oncology treatments. More specifically, it wants to focus on immunotherapy oncology treatments, treatments that use the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells.

In furtherance of its goal, Bristol-Myers Squibb bought Flexus Biosciences Inc. and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal valued at $1.6 billion in February, to boost its oncology treatments. Going by figures, Virology treatments were about 30 percent, or $1.2 billion, of Bristol-Myers's total revenue in the first quarter. However, Oncology treatments made up about 22 percent, or $905 million