TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. reported a 21.5 percent drop in its fourth-quarter profit despite higher drug sales, because the year-ago results had a $411 million tax benefit from writing off a failed experimental medicine.

The drugmaker’s adjusted results easily beat Wall Street expectations, but that performance was overshadowed by investor concerns about the pace of a highly anticipated study in lung cancer patients. Bristol-Myers shares fell more than 5 percent after the company declined to commit to a timeline for moving ahead with the study.

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