Updated with new information. PRINCETON, NJ ( TheStreet ) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) suspended a mid-stage study of its experimental hepatitis C drug BMS-094 due to a serious safety issue -- a major blow to the company's research pipeline that is also likely to rejigger the way Wall Street views other companies' efforts to develop an all-oral therapy against the viral liver disease. BMS-094 belongs to the highly coveted and potent class of hepatitis C drugs known as nucleotide polymerase inhibitors, or "nucs" for short. If Bristol is forced to shelve BMS-094 permanently, competitors with their own nucs still in development -- Gilead Sciences ( GILD ), Idenix Pharmaceuticals ( IDIX ) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( VRTX ) -- stand to benefit as long as the toxicity that derailed BMS-094 is specific to that drug and is not a class effect.