Sept 30 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers Squibb ( BMY ) won the

dismissal on Monday of a $6.4 billion lawsuit claiming it

cheated former Celgene shareholders by delaying federal approval

for the cancer drug Breyanzi and two other drugs developed by

Celgene.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said UMB Bank

was never properly appointed trustee for shareholders owning

"contingent value rights" (CVR) because its hiring was supported

by a majority of beneficial owners, not registered owners.

Furman said that "inexplicable failure" doomed the lawsuit

that UMB filed on CVR holders' behalf in June 2021, a few months

after purportedly replacing a different trustee, and 17 months

after Bristol Myers bought Celgene for $80.3 billion.

"After three years of litigation and with so much money at

stake, the court does not reach that conclusion lightly," Furman

wrote. "UMB has no one to blame for that result but itself." He

said a "properly appointed" trustee can refile the case.

Neither lawyers for UMB nor the Kansas City, Missouri-based

bank immediately responded to requests for comment. Bristol

Myers and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar

requests.

The merger called for Bristol Myers to pay CVR holders an

extra $9 per share in cash if it won U.S. Food and Drug

Administration approval of Liso-Cel, which is sold as Breyanzi,

and Ozanimod by Dec. 31, 2020, and Ide-cel by March 31, 2021.

CVR holders accused Bristol Myers of being slow to submit

critical information to the FDA and to ready plants for

inspection, hoping to delay approvals and avoid the $6.4 billion

payout.

Bristol Myers won FDA approval for Breyanzi on Feb. 5, 2021,

to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

CVR holders are appealing Furman's February dismissal of a

separate lawsuit they filed directly, accusing Bristol Myers of

securities fraud.

Also in 2024, state court judges in New York and New Jersey

dismissed lawsuits by CVR holders who said Bristol Myers'

registration statement for the Celgene merger failed to disclose

it had no intention to obtain FDA approval for Breyanzi in time.

The case is UMB Bank NA v Bristol-Myers Squibb Co ( BMY ), U.S.

District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-04897.