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Amgen is one of the world's largest independent biotechnology pharmaceutical firms, headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, widely recognized as a foundational pioneer of the modern biotech industry. It focuses on developing, manufacturing and commercializing targeted therapies for severe, hard-to-treat conditions spanning oncology, nephrology, rheumatology, cardiovascular disease and rare illnesses, and has built a portfolio of multiple historically high-revenue blockbuster biologic treatments.
Key moments
1980Founded in California under the original name Applied Molecular Genetics, with a founding team of leading molecular biology researchers
1989Launched its first landmark commercial product EPOGEN, a breakthrough anemia treatment for patients undergoing kidney dialysis
1994Received FDA approval for NEUPOGEN, a white blood cell stimulant that drastically reduces life-threatening infection risk for patients receiving chemotherapy
2006Completed the acquisition of biotech developer Immunex, adding the top-selling rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel to its core product lineup
2010sBegan rolling out a new generation of pipeline therapies to offset expected revenue decline from legacy products facing emerging biosimilar competition
2020sExpanded strategic priorities into cell therapy and rare disease treatment through targeted startup acquisitions and internal R&D investments
Amgen operates in a crowded biopharmaceutical landscape populated by legacy pharmaceutical conglomerates, specialized pure-play biotech startups, and fast-growing biosimilar manufacturers. It occupies a unique middle ground between the operational scale of large traditional pharma and the deep, research-first focus of early-generation biotech pioneers.
Amgen's longest-standing competitive moat is its decades of accumulated expertise in manufacturing complex biologic therapies, a capability that remains a high barrier to entry for smaller new market entrants, paired with a proven track record of executing successful late-stage clinical trials for novel biologic candidates.
Its primary peer competitors include other large independent biotech leaders such as Gilead Sciences, as well as the dedicated biotech divisions of diversified pharmaceutical conglomerates, while generic drug manufacturers producing lower-cost biosimilar versions of Amgen's legacy blockbuster products exert consistent margin pressure.
To offset revenue erosion from maturing core products, Amgen has increasingly leaned on targeted acquisitions of small, innovative late-stage biotech startups, rather than relying exclusively on in-house R&D to refresh its therapy portfolio.
Unlike many of its peer biotech firms that only defend their own patents against biosimilar makers, Amgen has also positioned itself as a leading developer of third-party biosimilars, tapping into the fast-growing global market for affordable alternative biologic treatments.
revenue
US$36.8 billion (2025)
operating income
US$9.08 billion (2025)
net income
US$7.71 billion (2025)
assets
US$90.6 billion (2025)
equity
US$8.66 billion (2025)
num employees
31,500 (2025)
foundation
April 8, 1980
location
Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
website
https://amgen.com/
footnotes
‡R1R‡
Amgen Inc. is an American multinational biopharmaceuticalcompany headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.The company is ranked 18th on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue.The name "AMGen" is a portmanteau of the company's original name, Applied Molecular Genetics.
The company's major products are Prolia and XGEVA (Denosumab) for treatment of osteoporosis and bone diseases ($6.7 billion in total 2024 revenues), Enbrel (Etanercept) for treatment of autoimmune diseases ($3.3 billion in 2024 revenues), Repatha (evolocumab) for treatment of hyperlipidemia ($2.3 billion in 2024 revenues), Otezla (apremilast) for treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis ($2.1 billion in 2024 revenues), Tepezza (teprotumumab) to treat Graves' ophthalmopathy ($1.8 billion in 2024 revenues), Evenity (romosozumab) to treat osteoporosis ($1.5 billion in 2024 revenues), Kyprolis (carfilzomib) to treat cancer ($1.5 billion in 2024 revenues), Nplate (romiplostim) to regulate platelet production ($1.4 billion in 2024 revenues), and Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) to stimulate erythropoiesis ($1.3 billion in 2024 revenues).[1]
Amgen has 17 clinical programs underway in Phase III, eight in Phase II, and 19 in Phase I. Its pipeline includes MariTide, an anti-obesity medication administered once per month by injection.[2]
In 2020, the company was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).[5]
History
In April 1980, Amgen was founded in Thousand Oaks as Applied Molecular Genetics.[6] Amgen was backed by a small group of venture capitalists, and its early focus was on recombinant DNA technology and recombinant human insulin.[7]
Winston Salser, a molecular biologist at UCLA recruited its initial scientific advisory board consisting of Norman Davidson, Leroy Hood, Arnold Berk, John Carbon, Robert Schimke, Arno Motulsky, Marvin H. Caruthers, and Dave Gibson.[8] In October 1980, Amgen named George Rathmann its first president and chief executive officer.[7][9]
Corporate affairs
Sponsorships
In December 2023, Amgen became the title sponsor of the Irish Open in golf, renaming it the Amgen Irish Open.<[116]
Philanthropy
In October 2017, the Amgen Foundation pledged $3 million to Khan Academy to support the development of free online biology lessons.<[117]<[118] In July 2020, Amgen granted an additional $3 million Khan Academy to support educational equity and science learning.<[119]<[120]
Products
Amgen's approved drugs or therapeutic biologicals include:
Aimovig (erenumab-aooe) for migraine headaches (FDA approved May 2018)<[126]
Amjevita (adalimumab)<[41] (FDA approved September 2016)
Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) for anemia (FDA approval in September 2001)<[127]
Blincyto (blinatumomab for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia)<[128]
Legal issues
In December 2012, Amgen plead guilty and agreed to pay $150 million in criminal penalty and $612 million to resolve 11 related whistleblower complaint related to improper marketing of anemia drug Aranesp.According to the United States Department of Justice, Amgen sold the drug for off-label uses at dosages that the FDA had rejected or never approved.<[138]<[139]
In May 2025, a jury ruled that Amgen owes Regeneron $406 million for engaging in anticompetitive practices to increase sales of its cholesterol-reduction drug Repatha at the expense of Regeneron's Praluent.<[140]
See also
Kirin-Amgen v Hoechst Marion Roussel, a UK patent case decided by the House of Lords
Amgen Inc. v. Harris, a United States Supreme Court case on employment law.
Evolocumab
Amgen Inc v. Sanofi, a United States Supreme Court case on patent enablement.
On June 17, 1983, Amgen became a public company via an initial public offering, 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 found and cloned 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 June 1984, Amgen and Kirin Brewery Company formed a joint venture giving Kirin the rights to Epogen in Japan, while Amgen retained United States distribution rights; both companies had the opportunity to expand to other countries.[15] This joint venture gave way in 2017 to a new joint venture, Kirin-Amgen, which bought out Kirin Holdings stake.[16] A year later, Amgen researcher Larry Souza and his team cloned granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), leading to the development of Neupogen (filgrastim).[14][17][18]
In October 1988, Gordon Binder was named CEO, succeeding George Rathmann.[19] The following year, in 1989, Amgen received approval for the first recombinant human erythropoetin product, Epogen (epoetin alfa).[20]
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.[21]
Amgen opened a new manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico, in March 1993, which later became the company's flagship manufacturing site.[22]
In 1994, Amgen became the fifth company to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from the United States Department of Commerce, in recognition of its work developing medicines to improve quality of life for kidney and cancer patients.[23] 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).[24]
2000–2014
Binder was succeeded as CEO by Kevin W. Sharer in 2000.[25] Robert A. Bradway became Amgen's president and chief executive officer in May 2012, following Sharer's retirement.[26]
In June 2010, Amgen received approval by the Food and Drug Administration for Prolia, a protein drug for the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis.[27] In clinical trials, Prolia reduced the rate of vertebral fractures by 61% and the risk of hip fractures by 40%.[28] In November 2010, the FDA approved Xgeva for the prevention of complications of bone metastases in patients with solid tumors.[29] The clinical trials primarily enrolled patients with breast or prostate cancer.
In March 2011, Amgen acquired a manufacturing facility near Dublin, Ireland.[30]
Amgen opened an affiliate in China in 2013.[31][32]
In November 2014, the company halted 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.[33] Also in November 2014, 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.[34] In the same month, construction was completed on Amgen's next-generation biomanufacturing facility in Singapore.[35] Blincyto (blinatumomab) was approved by the FDA in December of that year.[36][37]
2015–2020
In March 2015, the company announced that it would license its Phase II candidate drug AMG 714 to Celimmune, which will develop the anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody for treatment against diet nonresponsive celiac disease and refractory celiac disease.[38] In August 2015, Repatha (evolocumab) was approved by the FDA.[39]
In September 2016, the company announced it would purchase the rights to Boehringer Ingelheims Phase I bispecific T-cell engager compound (BI 836909, now AMG 420) for use in the treatment of multiple myeloma.[40] Also in September, the FDA approved Amjevita (adalimumab-atto).[41] The FDA approved Parsabiv in February 2017[42]
Acquisition history
Amgen Inc. (Founded 1983 as Applied Molecular Genetics)
In January 2020, the Amgen Foundation and Harvard University debuted LabXchange, a free online science education platform.<[121]<[122] Amgen and the Amgen Foundation announced a commitment of up to $12.5 million to support COVID-19 relief efforts in March.<[123]
In November 2021, Amgen awarded a $2 million grant to the CDC Foundation to launch the latter's EmPOWERED Health Program, promoting patient engagement in decision making for cancer treatments.<[124]
Politics
The company spends approximately $10 million per year on lobbying in the United States.Political contributions have mostly been to individuals and organizations associated with the Democratic Party.<[125]
Corlanor (ivabradine)
Enbrel (etanercept) for various forms of arthritis
Epogen (erythropoietin) for anemia
Evenity (romosozumab-aqqg) for osteoporosis
Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec) for local treatment of unresectable cutaneous, subcutaneous, and nodal lesions in melanoma recurrent after initial surgery (FDA approved October 2015)<[129]
Kanjinti (trastuzumab-anns)<[49] (FDA approved June 2019)
Sensipar/Mimpara (cinacalcet for primary and secondary hyperparathyroidism, a mineral metabolism complication common in patients with kidney failure) (FDA approved 2004)<[134]<[135]
Vectibix (panitumumab for colon cancer) (FDA approved 2006)<[136]
Xgeva (denosumab) for the prevention of skeletal-related events (pathological fracture, radiation to bone, spinal cord compression or surgery to bone in adults with bone metastases from solid tumors)
StemGen (ancestim) for use in combination with filgrastim for mobilizing peripheral hematopoietic stem cells) (sold to Biovitrium, now Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, in December 2008)<[137]
Kineret (anakinra) for rheumatoid arthritis, exclusively licensed to Biovitrium, now Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, in December 2008<[137]
18.Linda J. Bendall, Kenneth F. Bradstock. G-CSF: From granulopoietic stimulant to bone marrow stem cell mobilizing agent Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews, August 2014^
36.Donna Przepiorka, Chia-Wen Ko, Albert Deisseroth, Carolyn L. Yancey, Reyes Candau-Chacon, Haw-Jyh Chiu, Brenda J. Gehrke, Candace Gomez-Broughton. FDA Approval: Blinatumomab Clinical Cancer Research, September 15, 2015^
132.Faranak Jamali, Steven Lemery, Kassa Ayalew, Suzanne Robottom, Kathy Robie-Suh, Dwaine Rieves, Richard Pazdur. Romiplostim for the treatment of chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura Oncology (Williston Park, N.Y.), July 2009^
136.Ruthann M. Giusti, Kaushikkumar A. Shastri, Martin H. Cohen, Patricia Keegan, Richard Pazdur. FDA drug approval summary: panitumumab (Vectibix) The Oncologist, May 2007^
In July 2018, Amgen began constructing a biomanufacturing plant at its campus in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.[44][45]
In January 2019, Evenity (romosozumab) received approval in Japan,[46][47] followed by FDA approval in April.[48] In June, Kanjinti (trastuzumab-anns) was approved by the FDA.[49]
In December 2019, the FDA approved Avsola (infliximab-axxq).[50]
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.[51]
In April 2020, Amgen established Amgen K.K. as the company's wholly owned affiliate in Japan.[52][53] The company announced in July that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had upheld the validity of two Amgen patents that described and claimed Enbrel and methods for making it.The appellate court affirmed an August 2019 decision by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and rejected Sandoz's attempt to invalidate the patents on Enbrel.[54]
In August 2020, Amgen, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, 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.[55]
In September 2020, Amgen and Eli Lilly and Company announced a global manufacturing collaboration for COVID-19 antibody therapies.[56]
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).[57] 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.[58]
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.[59] Amgen also announced that it would terminate its collaboration with Cytokinetics and transition the development and commercialization rights for omecamtiv mecarbil and AMG 594.[60] 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.[61]
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.[62] Also in December 2020, the FDA approved Riabni (rituximab-arrx), a biosimilar to Rituxan.[63][64]
In April 2021, the company acquired Five Prime Therapeutics and its lead candidate, bemarituzumab, for $1.9 billion.[65][66][67][68]
In the March 2021, Amgen acquired Rodeo Therapeutics for $720 million.[69][70]
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.[71] Similar approvals for sotorasib in NSCLC followed in January 2022 in Europe[72] and Japan.[73] The FDA approved Amgen's Lumakras in May for treatment of patients with KRAS-G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer.[74]
In June 2021, Amgen and Kyowa Kirin announced joint plans to develop and commercialize a treatment for atopic dermatitis.[75] In October, Amgen and Neumora Therapeutics announced a research and development collaboration focused on novel precision therapies for certain brain diseases.[76][77] Amgen began construction on a new biomanufacturing plant in New Albany, Ohio, in November.[78] In December, the FDA approved Amgen and AstraZeneca's Tezspire (tezepelumab) for severe asthma.[79] The FDA also approved Amgen's Otezla for adults with plaque psoriasis of any severity level.[80]
Amgen announced a research collaboration in January 2022 with Generate Biomedicines across multiple modalities and several therapeutic areas for up to $1.9 billion.[81][82] The company also launched a multi-target collaboration with Arrakis Therapeutics to identify novel targeted RNA degrader therapeutics.[83][84] The next month, Amgen entered a multi-year collaboration with Plexium to discover novel targeted protein degradation therapies.[85][86] Also in February, Amgen issued its first green bond to fund various environmentally friendly initiatives across the company.[87][88] The company broke ground on a new manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, in March.[89][90]
In September 2022, data from a late-stage study showed the company's cancer pill Lumakras (sotorasib) 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. The drug was approved in 2021 with a list price of $17,900 per month.[91]
In October 2022, the company acquired ChemoCentryx, the maker of Tavneos—a drug treatment for rare diseases called anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis, for $3.7 billion in an all-cash deal.[92][93][94]
In October 2023, Amgen acquired Horizon Therapeutics, specializing in drugs for rare diseases, for $27.8 billion.[95][96]
In November 2023, Amgen announced plans to use artificial intelligence in partnership with Amazon Web Services to help discover and create medicines and use the Amazon SageMakermachine learning service to help with the manufacturing process.[97]
In March 2025, data for the drug Tezspire (tezepelumab), showed the best results for treating chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.[98]
Also in March 2025, Amgen announced the start of two late-stage trials for MariTide, an anti-obesity medication candidate.[99][100] In June 2025, the company noted that it had to reduce the dosage of the drug to avoid side effects such as vomiting.[101] However, patients that continued to take the drug lost approximately 20% of their body weight.[102]
In April 2025, the company announced a $900 million expansion of its facility in New Albany, Ohio.[103] In September 2025, it announced plans to build a $600 million research center in Thousand Oaks, California.[104]
