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American multinational biopharmaceutical company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.[3][4] One of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, As of 2022, Amgen has approximately 24,000 staff in total.[5]
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (August 2020) |
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Headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California | |
| Formerly | Applied Molecular Genetics (1980–1983) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| ISIN | US0311621009 |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | April 8, 1980 |
| Headquarters | Thousand Oaks, California, U.S. |
Key people | Robert A. Bradway (chairman, president & CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  US$28.19 billion (2023) |
 US$7.897 billion (2023) | |
| US$6.717 billion (2023) | |
| Total assets | US$97.15 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$6.232 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | c. 26,700 (2023) |
| Website | amgen |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
The name "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 is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "AMGN", as well as a component of the Nasdaq-100, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the S&P 100 and 500 indices.
Amgen was established in Thousand Oaks in 1980, as Applied Molecular Genetics.[6][7] Amgen was backed by a small group of venture capitalists, and its early focus was on recombinant DNA technology and recombinant human insulin.[8]
Its initial scientific advisory board consisted of Norman Davidson, Leroy Hood, Arnold Berk, John Carbon, Robert Schimke, Arno Motulsky, Marvin H. Caruthers, and Dave Gibson.[9] In October 1980, Amgen named George Rathmann its first president and chief executive officer.[8]
On June 17, 1983, Amgen went public, selling two million common shares and raising nearly $40 million.[10][11][12] That same year, after more than two years of work, an Amgen research team led by Fu-Kuen Lin had a breakthrough in finding and cloning the erythropoietin gene, a protein created in the kidney that stimulates red blood cell production. Lin's team created what would become Epogen (epoetin alfa).[13][14]
In 1985, Amgen researcher Larry Souza and his team cloned granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), leading to the development of Neupogen (filgrastim).[14][15][16]
In October 1988, Gordon Binder was named CEO, succeeding George Rathmann.[17] The following year, in 1989, Amgen received approval for the first recombinant human erythropoetin product, Epogen (epoetin alfa).[18][19]
In February 1991, Amgen received FDA approval for Neupogen for the prevention of infections in patients whose immune systems are suppressed due to cancer chemotherapy.[20][21]
Amgen opened a new manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico, in March 1993, which later became the company's flagship manufacturing site.[22][23]
In 1994, Amgen became the fifth company to receive the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Medal of Technology and Innovation, in recognition of its work developing medicines to improve quality of life for kidney and cancer patients.[24] Also around this time, Amgen researcher Steve Elliott and his team added more sugar molecules to erythropoietin, causing it to remain in the body longer. This led to the development of Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa).[25]
In November 1998, Immunex, a future acquisition of Amgen, received approval for Enbrel (etanercept), the first rheumatoid arthritis drug targeting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha).[18]
Binder was succeeded as CEO by Kevin W. Sharer in 2000.[26] Robert A. Bradway became Amgen's president and chief executive officer in May 2012, following Sharer's retirement.[27]
In March 2011, Amgen acquired a manufacturing facility near Dublin, Ireland, in March.[28]
Amgen also opened an affiliate in China in 2013.[29][30]
In November 2014 the company announced it was halting all trials of rilotumumab in advanced gastric cancer patients after one of the trials found more deaths in those who took the compound with chemotherapy, than those without.[31] Later in the same week, the company in conjunction with AstraZeneca reported positive results for brodalumab in a Phase III trial comparing the compound with ustekinumab and a placebo in treating psoriasis.[32] In the same month, construction was completed on Amgen's next-generation biomanufacturing facility in Singapore.[33] Blincyto (blinatumomab) was approved by the FDA in December of that year.[34][35]
Amgen's Thousand Oaks staff in 2022 numbered approximately 5,000[36] (8.5% of total city employment)[37] and included hundreds of scientists, making Amgen the largest employer in Ventura County.[7][38]
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In October 2017, the Amgen Foundation pledged $3 million to Khan Academy to support the development of free online biology lessons.[120][121] In July 2020, Amgen granted an additional $3 million Khan Academy to support educational equity and science learning.[122][123]
In January 2020, the Amgen Foundation and Harvard University debuted LabXchange, a free online science education platform.[124][125] Amgen and the Amgen Foundation announced a commitment of up to $12.5 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts in March.[126]
Amgen's approved drugs or therapeutic biologicals include:
In 2019, the company's largest selling products were Enbrel (etanercept),[146] a tumor necrosis factor blocker used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, and Neulasta (pegfilgrastim), an immunostimulator used to prevent infections in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy.[147]
As of August 2022, Amgen had 17 clinical programs underway in Phase III, eight in Phase II, and 19 in Phase I.[148]
In September 2019, FDA granted fast track designation to sotorasib for the treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) with the KRAS G12C mutation.[149]
In August 2020, Amgen, Takeda, and AbbVie, as part of a COVID-19 research and development (R&D) alliance, announced the first patients enrolled in the I-SPY COVID clinical trial. The trial evaluated the efficacy of Otezla and two other medicines in severely ill, hospitalized COVID-19 patients who required high-flow oxygen.[150]
In October 2020, Amgen announced positive topline Phase 2 results from the CodeBreaK 100 clinical study, evaluating sotorasib in 126 patients with KRAS G12C-mutant advanced NSCLC who had failed three or fewer prior lines of anti-cancer therapies (including immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy).[151] Amgen, the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research, and Eisai Co., Ltd. also announced enrollment of the first patient in a study testing multiple interventions for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.[152][153]
In November 2020, Amgen, Takeda, and UCB, as part of the COVID R&D alliance, announced the first patient enrolled in another trial evaluating Otezla and two other drugs as treatments for COVID-19.[154] Amgen also announced that it would terminate its collaboration with Cytokinetics and transition the development and commercialization rights for omecamtiv mecarbil and AMG 594.[155] Amgen and AstraZeneca announced positive topline results from a Phase 3 trial in which the investigational medicine tezepelumab demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in exacerbations in patients with severe asthma.[156]
In December 2020, the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to sotorasib for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients with KRAS G12C mutation.[157]
In May 2021, sotorasib received accelerated approval from FDA for treatment of adult patients with NSCLC whose tumors have a KRAS G12C mutation and who have received at least one prior systemic therapy; this was the first approved targeted therapy for tumors with any KRAS mutation.[158] Similar approvals for sotorasib in NSCLC followed in January 2022 in Europe[159] and Japan.[160]
In September 2022, data from a late-stage study showed the company's cancer pill Lumakras beating out chemotherapy. This was the first approved drug in the set of treatments that target KRAS, among the most common generic mutations found in cancers but one where researchers have struggled for years to design drugs to treat. The drug was approved in 2021 with a list price of $17,900 per month.[161]
Amgen reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 243 Kt (-6 /-2.4% y-o-y)[162] and aims to reach net zero emissions by 2027.[163]
| Dec 2014 | Dec 2015 | Dec 2016 | Dec 2017 | Dec 2018 | Dec 2019 | Dec 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 354 | 369 | 292 | 279 | 264 | 249 | 243 |
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 whistleblower complaints. Federal prosecutors accused the company of pursuing profits while putting patients at risk.[164] 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".[165]
Amgen engages with the public and private sectors in a variety of settings including to promote research and development, academic funding, event sponsorship, philanthropy, and political lobbying.
Amgen was ranked 151 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue in 2024.[224]
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