Bristol-Myers to stop new antiviral drug research

(Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb said on Thursday that it would stop efforts to find new antiviral drugs and cut 100 related jobs. The company said it will also discontinue its Hepatitis B and HIV early programs. Bristol-Myers said already marketed products and its ongoing clinical programs in virology would not be hit by the decision. The company is seeking U.S. approval for its experimental hepatitis C drug, daclatasvir. The compound is already approved in the European Union to treat the same condition under the brand name Daklinza. The company said a research facility is expected to open in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2018 and that the expansion of an R&D site in San Francisco Bay Area is likely to be completed by 2016. Bristol-Myers' stock was up marginally at $67.47 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Anjali Rao Koppala in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)