Amgen

Amgen Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: AMGN NASDAQ-100 Component S&P 500 Component SEHK: 4332
Industry	Biotechnology
Founded	1980
Headquarters	Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
Key people	Robert A. Bradway (Chairman) Robert A. Bradway (President and CEO)
Products	Epogen, Aranesp, Kineret, Enbrel, Neulasta, Neupogen, Nplate, Vectibix, Prolia, Xgeva and Sensipar/Mimpara.
Revenue	US$ 15.582 billion (2011)
Operating income	US$ 4.312 billion (2011)
Net income	US$ 3.683 billion (2011)
Total assets	US$ 48.871 billion (2011)
Total equity	US$ 19.029 billion (2011)
Employees	17,800 (December 2011)
Website	Amgen.com

Amgen is an American-based multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. Located in the Conejo Valley, Amgen is the world's largest independent biotechnology firm. Epogen and Neupogen (the company's first products on the market) were the two most successful biopharmaceutical products at the time of their respective releases.

Amgen is the largest employer in Thousand Oaks and second only to the United States Navy in terms of number of people employed in Ventura County. BusinessWeek ranked Amgen first on the S&P 500 for being one of the most "future-oriented" of those five hundred corporations. BusinessWeek ostensibly calculated the ratio of research and development spending, combined with capital spending, to total outlays; Amgen had the fourth highest ratio, at 506:1000.

The company employs approximately 17,000 staff members. Its products include Epogen, Aranesp, Enbrel, Kineret, Neulasta, Neupogen, Sensipar/Mimpara, Nplate, Vectibix, Prolia and XGEVA. Amgen has several collaborative arrangements with Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Daiichi Sankyo and Array BioPharma. It is a leading member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a coalition of over 400 companies and NGOs that promotes increased funding for US diplomatic and international development programs. In 2010, Amgen began sponsoring the Tour of California, one of only three major Union Cycliste Internationale events in the United States.

History

One of the many buildings at Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks

AMGen Corporate Logo, 1983

Amgen's corporate Gulfstream V departs Fox Field, Lancaster, California

The word AMGen is a portmanteau of the company's original name, Applied Molecular Genetics, which became the official name of the company in 1983 (three years after incorporation and coincident with its initial public offering). The company's first chief executive officer, from 1980, was George B. Rathmann, followed by Gordon M. Binder in 1988, followed by Kevin W. Sharer in 2000. Robert A. Bradway became Amgen’s president and chief executive officer in May 2012 following Mr. Sharers retirement.

The company has made at least five major corporate acquisitions.

Criticism

• 2008. Forbes Magazine ranks AMGEN CEO Kevin Sharer 169 out of 175. Rankings were based on performance vs. pay metrics.
• 2009. Sen. Edward Kennedy introduced a bill granting AMGEN and other biotech companies more than 13 years of marketing exclusivity. Kennedy Institute receives $ 5 million from Amgen.
• 2010. AMGEN spends a record $ 10.2 million on lobbying activities. Data based on Senate Office of Public Records.
• 2012. Illegal marketing practices. The Los Angeles Times reported on December 18, 2012 that AMGEN pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $ 150 million in criminal penalty and $ 612 million to resolve 11 related whistle-blower complaints. Federal prosecutors accused the company of pursuing profits while putting patients at risk. Larry Husten, a contributor at Forbes.com elaborates on AMGEN's illegal marketing practices in this case, namely that "The government accused Amgen of marketing Aranesp for indications not approved by the FDA and other illegal marketing practices. One of the drugs, mentioned in the law suit, had sales of $492 million in the 3rd quarter of 2012, down 17% from the same quarter the previous. year "due to "reimbursement problems and label changes". In addition, the drug Aranesp failed in heart trials, as it failed to meet its primary endpoints. Adverse effects include cardiac failure, diarrhea, congestive heart failure and dizziness.
• 2012 Kathleen Sharp publishes a book entitled "Blood Medicine: Blowing the whistle on one of the deadliest prescription drugs ever." It covers, amongst other subjects, Amgen's early history and involvement in developing blood boosters, also used by cyclists like Lance Armstrong.
• 2013 Aggressive Lobbying. Lawmakers, allegedly maneuvered by a team of 74 AMGEN lobbyists, inserted text into the fiscal cliff bill that will allow the drug maker to sell a class of drugs that includes Sensipar without government controls for an additional two years. The paragraph in the fiscall cliff bill will cost taxpayers an estimated $ 500 million. A non-profit group, led by Russ Feingold, files a petition against Amgen's fiscal cliff deal at the end of January. The executive at Amgen in charge of U.S. Government Affairs is Senior Vice President Victoria H. Blatter.
• 2013 the FDA halted Amgen's studies of its parathyroid drug Sensipar after the death of a 14-year-old patient in a company trial.

Acquisition history

• 1994 - Synergen, Inc.
• 2000 - Kinetix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• 2002 - Immunex Corporation
• 2004 - Tularik, Inc.
• 2006 - Abgenix, Inc.
• 2006 - Avidia, Inc.
• 2007 - Ilypsa, Inc.
• 2007 - Alantos Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc.
• 2011 - BioVex Group, Inc.
• 2011 - Laboratório Químico Farmacêutico Bergamo Ltda.
• 2012 - Micromet, Inc.
• 2012 - Mustafa Nevzat İlaç
• 2012 - KAI Pharmaceuticals
• 2012 - deCode Genetics

Products

As of August 9, 2011, Amgen had twelve approved drugs or therapeutic biologicals for seventeen conditions (conditions lists are highly generalized; see each article for more detail):

• Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) (for anemia)
• Enbrel (Etanercept) (for various forms of arthritis)
• Epogen (Epoetin) (also known as Procrit; for anemia)
• Kepivance (Palifermin) (for oral mucositis)
• Kineret (Anakinra) (for rheumatoid arthritis)
• Neupogen (Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor) (for neutropenia)
• Neulasta (PEG Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor or "Pegfilgrastim") (for neutropenia)
• Vectibix (Panitumumab) (for colon cancer)
• Sensipar/Mimpara (Cinacalcet) (for Primary & Secondary hyperparathyroidism, a mineral metabolism complication common in patients with kidney failure)
• Nplate (Romiplostim) (for chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura)
• Prolia (denosumab) (for postmenopausal osteoporosis)
• XGEVA (denosumab) (for the prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs) (pathological fracture, radiation to bone, spinal cord compression or surgery to bone in adults with bone metastases from solid tumors)

Pre Clinical

In other drug discovery phases (Phases I, II, III and in preclinical development), the company has twenty-three pharmacologic agents for twenty-eight conditions; nineteen of the candidates are not currently approved for any indication.

See also

• Kirin-Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel, a UK patent case decided by the House of Lords

External links

• Official website
• Amgen SEC Filings
• Company Profile at Pharmaceutical Business Review
• Amgen Inc. Company Profile Profile at Google Finance.
• Businessweek.com