Amgen has recently stepped up its dealmaking activity as it tries to bolster its pipeline of treatments for cancer and inflammation. Earlier this month, the California biotech announced plans to pay $1.9 billion for Five Prime Therapeutics, which is focused on oncology.
It’s all part of the remaking of Amgen, as the company’s groundbreaking initial therapies and more recent top sellers face increased competition. Amgen was a pioneer of the biotechnology industry, winning U.S. approval in 1989 for the anti-anemia drug Epogen, the first blockbuster medicine in the field.
