The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the Honorable Faith S. Hochberg, United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey has entered an order ("Order") approving the Commission's proposed plan ("Plan") for distributing the money paid by defendant Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ("BMS") in connection with its settlement of the above matter to injured shareholders. On August 4, 2004, BMS consented, without admitting or denying liability, to a permanent injunction enjoining it from violating certain provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed to pay $150,000,001 million in monetary remedies, and undertook to perform numerous remedial measures.

The Order provides that the $150,000,001 paid by BMS to settle the SEC's claims against it (the "SEC Settlement Fund") will be transferred to the claims administrator appointed in a similar case, In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Securities Litigation, Master File No. 02-CV-2251 (LAP), pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the "BMS Securities Litigation Settlement"), by agreement of the parties in order to save substantial administration and distribution costs. The claims administrator is the Garden City Group, 105 Maxess Road, Melville, NY 11747-3836. The $150,000,001 is eligible to be distributed pro rata to persons and entities who purchased BMS common stock between January 1, 2000, through and including December 31, 2001, the period of BMS' fraudulent earnings management scheme. This recovery will be in addition to the $300,000,000 recovered by the plaintiffs in BMS Securities Litigation Settlement

Eligible shareholders wishing to recover from both the SEC Settlement Fund and the BMS Securities Litigation Settlement must follow the instructions in the Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action ("Notice") and Proof of Claim and Release Form for the BMS Securities Litigation Settlement ("Proof of Claim and Release Form"). Any shareholder who has not received the Notice or the Proof of Claim and Release Form may obtain copies of these documents by contacting, In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Securities Litigation, c/o The Garden City Group, Inc., 1-800-327-3664. Copies of the Notice and Proof of Claim and Release Form may also be downloaded from www.bermanesq.com or www.blbglaw.com. ELIGIBLE SHAREHOLDERS MUST SUBMIT A PROOF OF CLAIM AND RELEASE FORM NO LATER THAN JANUARY 31, 2005.

The SEC Settlement Fund will be distributed on the same timetable as the BMS Securities Litigation Settlement. Specifically, after Proof of Claim and Release Forms are returned by eligible claimants seeking to share in the SEC Settlement Fund, deficiency notices will be sent by the Garden City Group to those persons and entities that have not completed the Proof of Claim correctly. After all of the deficiency notices are satisfactorily resolved, the SEC Settlement Fund will be distributed by the Garden City Group to eligible claimants pro rata less any associated costs.

Eligible claimants in the SEC Settlement Fund may also participate in the BMS Securities Litigation Settlement. The Notice of the SEC Settlement gives specific instructions to eligible shareholders who wish to share in the SEC Settlement Fund, but exclude themselves from the BMS Securities Litigation Settlement.

If there are any remaining funds in the SEC Settlement Fund after payment to eligible claimants and after any associated costs are paid, these funds shall be returned to the Court and disbursed to the United States Treasury or otherwise according to the relevant law.

The Commission's investigation is continuing.

For more information on this matter, see Litigation Release No. 18820 dated August 4, 2004 and Litigation Release No. 18822 dated August 6, 2004.