Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) is looking to acquire either privately held biotechnology companies or those worth about $1 billion following initial public stock offerings, the drug maker's leader said Tuesday.

Chief Executive James Cornelius told shareholders at the drug maker's annual meeting Tuesday in Plainsboro, N.J., that Bristol-Myers hoped to gain some of the benefits of a large-scale acquisition "without spending tens of billions of dollars" as some of its larger rivals have.

Cornelius said the New York company, which markets the Plavix anti-clotting drug, could remain independent by making smaller acquisitions and striking drug-development partnerships with its rivals, as it did two years ago with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and AstraZeneca PLC (AZN).

Cornelius's comments indicate that Bristol-Myers is prepared to go it alone even as the pharmaceutical industry undergoes a wave of consolidation. In recent months, Pfizer agreed to buy Wyeth (WYE) in a deal originally valued at about $68 billion, while Merck & Co. (MRK) agreed to buy Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) for about $41 billion. Also, Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) bought the stake in Genentech Inc. it didn't already own for about $47 billion.

Last year, Bristol offered to acquire full control of its biotech partner ImClone Systems but lost a subsequent bidding war to Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY). Now Bristol-Myers is flush with about $9 billion in cash and marketable securities, some of which it's prepared to put to use on deals.

Cornelius said there are at least a dozen drug companies about the same size as Bristol-Myers that are still independent and following their own strategies.

Separately, Cornelius said Bristol-Myers was "getting very little credit" in its stock price for the research money it has spent on about a half-dozen experimental drugs that Cornelius thinks have big commercial potential. Bristol-Myer's pipeline includes diabetes drug saxagliptin, which is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Bristol-Myers shares rose 30 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.83 Tuesday morning. The stock is off nearly 15% year-to-date.

-Peter Loftus; Dow Jones Newswires; 215-656-8289; peter.loftus@dowjones.com