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Conversations From the Corner Office
COMPANY HISTORY
Amgen
A pioneer in biotechnology, Amgen was founded in 1980 by a group of scientists and venture capitalists with $19 million in investment. Over the next seven years, Amgen launched three public stock offerings and raised tens of millions of dollars more to develop two early blockbuster biotech drugs: Epogen and Neupogen. Epogen fights anemia in kidney patients by raising red blood cell counts, while Neupogen stimulates growth of white blood cells in cancer patients. By 1991, Amgen had won FDA approval to market both drugs, and by the following year, the company had cleared $1 billion in sales.
Over the next 10 years, revenue reached $4 billion driven in part by sales of new drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and anemia caused by chronic renal failure. The company also grew by acquiring smaller biotech firms including Immunex, Abgenix, and Alantos Pharmaceuticals Holdings, which was developing a new drug to fight diabetes.
The Fortune 500 company now operates manufacturing facilities in California, Colorado, Rhode Island, Washington and Puerto Rico, and boasts annual revenue of more than $14 billion.
In August 2007, Amgen announced layoffs and cuts in capital expenses and research and development outlays due to declining sales of its anemia drug Aranesp. Earlier in the year the FDA announced new warnings for the drug based on studies that showed increased health risks among certain patients at high doses. Amgen maintains the drug is safe when taken as directed.
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