ACQUISITIONS AND OTHER DIVESTITURES	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Business Combinations [Abstract]
Acquisitions and other divestitures [Text Block]	ACQUISITIONS AND OTHER DIVESTITURES Cardioxyl Acquisition In December 2015, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cardioxyl), a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents for cardiovascular disease. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to CXL-1427, a nitroxyl prodrug in Phase II development for acute decompensated heart failure. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $200 million and contingent development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments of up to $1.9 billion. No significant Cardioxyl processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because Cardioxyl was determined not to be a business as that term is defined in ASC 805 - Business Combinations. The consideration was allocated to CXL-1427 resulting in $167 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $33 million of deferred tax assets. Flexus Acquisition In April 2015, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of Flexus Biosciences, Inc. (Flexus), a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to F001287, a preclinical small molecule IDO1-inhibitor targeted immunotherapy. In addition, BMS acquired Flexus's IDO/TDO discovery program which includes its IDO-selective, IDO/TDO dual and TDO-selective compounds. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $800 million (plus acquisition costs) and contingent development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $450 million. No significant Flexus processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because Flexus was determined not to be a business. The consideration was allocated to F001287 and the IDO/TDO discovery program resulting in $800 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $14 million of deferred tax assets. iPierian Acquisition In April 2014, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of iPierian, Inc. (iPierian), a biotechnology company focused on new treatments for tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative diseases. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to IPN007, a preclinical monoclonal antibody to treat progressive supranuclear palsy and other tauopathies. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $175 million, contingent development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $550 million and future royalties on net sales if any of the acquired preclinical assets are approved and commercialized. No significant iPierian processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because iPierian was determined not to be a business. The consideration was allocated to IPN007 resulting in $148 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $27 million of deferred tax assets. Other Divestitures In addition to the divestiture transactions with AstraZeneca, Lilly, The Medicines Company and Valeant discussed in "—Note 3. Alliances", BMS divested its Ixempra* business and several other businesses or product lines in 2015. These other transactions generated net proceeds of $121 million resulting in pretax gains of $136 million (including a $40 million deferred gain from 2014). Additional contingent proceeds will be recognized in earnings when received. Revenues and pretax earnings related to these businesses were not material.

ACQUISITIONS AND OTHER DIVESTITURES

Cardioxyl Acquisition

In December 2015, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cardioxyl), a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents for cardiovascular disease. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to CXL-1427, a nitroxyl prodrug in Phase II development for acute decompensated heart failure. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $200 million and contingent development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments of up to $1.9 billion. No significant Cardioxyl processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because Cardioxyl was determined not to be a business as that term is defined in ASC 805 - Business Combinations. The consideration was allocated to CXL-1427 resulting in $167 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $33 million of deferred tax assets.

Flexus Acquisition

In April 2015, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of Flexus Biosciences, Inc. (Flexus), a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to F001287, a preclinical small molecule IDO1-inhibitor targeted immunotherapy. In addition, BMS acquired Flexus's IDO/TDO discovery program which includes its IDO-selective, IDO/TDO dual and TDO-selective compounds. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $800 million (plus acquisition costs) and contingent development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $450 million. No significant Flexus processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because Flexus was determined not to be a business. The consideration was allocated to F001287 and the IDO/TDO discovery program resulting in $800 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $14 million of deferred tax assets.

iPierian Acquisition

In April 2014, BMS acquired all of the outstanding shares of iPierian, Inc. (iPierian), a biotechnology company focused on new treatments for tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative diseases. The acquisition provided BMS with full rights to IPN007, a preclinical monoclonal antibody to treat progressive supranuclear palsy and other tauopathies. The consideration includes an upfront payment of $175 million, contingent development and regulatory milestone payments of up to $550 million and future royalties on net sales if any of the acquired preclinical assets are approved and commercialized. No significant iPierian processes were acquired, therefore the transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition because iPierian was determined not to be a business. The consideration was allocated to IPN007 resulting in $148 million of research and development expenses and to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards resulting in $27 million of deferred tax assets.

Other Divestitures

In addition to the divestiture transactions with AstraZeneca, Lilly, The Medicines Company and Valeant discussed in "—Note 3. Alliances", BMS divested its Ixempra* business and several other businesses or product lines in 2015. These other transactions generated net proceeds of $121 million resulting in pretax gains of $136 million (including a $40 million deferred gain from 2014). Additional contingent proceeds will be recognized in earnings when received. Revenues and pretax earnings related to these businesses were not material.