What should I know about Amgen?
Amgen is a US biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, that develops and sells medicines for heart disease, bone health, cancer, asthma and inflammatory conditions. It was founded in 1980, and in October 2023 it bought Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion. Robert Bradway has been chief executive since 2012. In the second quarter of 2026 Amgen reported revenue of more than $10 billion, up 10% on a year earlier. It also makes biosimilars, which are lower-cost versions of other companies' biologic drugs.
What are Amgen's main drugs?
In the second quarter of 2026, Repatha, a cholesterol-lowering injection, earned $953 million (up 37%) and the osteoporosis drug Evenity $714 million (up 38%). Tezspire for asthma made $486 million, Uplizna for rare diseases $335 million and the lung cancer drug Imdelltra $288 million (up 115%). Biosimilars earned $855 million. Prolia and Xgeva, two bone drugs, fell 33% to $1.1 billion as biosimilar competition arrived. Amgen raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $38.2 billion to $39.4 billion.
What is Amgen currently developing?
Amgen's main bet is MariTide, an obesity drug dosed monthly or less often. It has nine Phase 3 studies under way and three more planned, exploring schedules with as few as four to six doses a year. The Phase 3 OCEAN(a) trial of olpasiran, which aims to lower lipoprotein(a), a heart disease risk factor, has enrolled 7,297 patients. Amgen is also extending Imdelltra into earlier treatment of small cell lung cancer through three Phase 3 studies.
Have there been any controversies involving Amgen?
In December 2012 Amgen agreed to pay $762 million to resolve federal and state investigations into the marketing of its anaemia drugs. It pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour misbranding charge over Aranesp, which the FDA had approved only for chemotherapy-induced anaemia. Prosecutors said Amgen promoted it for cancer-related anaemia and at higher doses than the label allowed. They also said Amgen encouraged doctors to use Aranesp by overfilling vials, which let them resell the free extra doses. Of the total, $150 million was criminal penalties.
Is Amgen publicly traded, and how big is it?
Yes. Amgen trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker AMGN and is part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. Its market value was about $228 billion on 30 September 2026, up about 29% over the previous 12 months. In the second quarter of 2026 it reported revenue of more than $10 billion. It expects full-year 2026 revenue of $38.2 billion to $39.4 billion.