What Ever Happened to Amgen?
Five years ago Amgen was the world’s largest biotechnology and was, by many accounts, the darling of Wall Street. But, today, there is little mention of the once formidable biotechnology company that many startups attempted to emulate. Like other companies, Amgen ran into pipeline problems, medical issues with existing blockbuster drugs (remember the whole hematocrit brouhaha over Epogen and Aranesp its flagship anemia products), lower drug sales and ultimately the perception that the company had lost its innovative edge. However, it now appears that Amgen is making something of a comeback and may have been quietly preparing itself for its “rebirth” over the past few years.
According to an article in today’s NY Times, Amgen agreed to purchase BioVex, a closely held oncology company for $425 million and as much as $575 million in milestone payments. BioVex’s lead product, an experimental cancer vaccine Oncovex, is in late stage clinical development. It was developed to treat metastatic melanoma. Oncovex is also being evaluated for head and neck cancer. Over the past five years, Amgen has acquired seven companies (with an average deal value of about $264 million) in oncology and other therapeutic areas indicating a willingness to create new drugs to treat diseases rather than symptoms commonly associated with them.
In other news, the company announced that it was raising it price for some of its largest selling drugs including Aranesp, Neupogen and Neulasta. Another sign that the once mighty company may be trying to get back into the game and compete with archrival Genentech (now a subsidiary of Roche) for the title of the world’s largest biotechnology company.
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!.
The fiscal year at most life sciences companies is drawing to a close, new budgets are being crafted and the holiday season is almost upon us. In years past, this time of year typically meant that it was bonus time for most pharma workers. Sadly, over the past three years bonus time has been replaced by layoff time. And, unfortunately the upcoming holiday season may not be joyous for many Pfizer and Roche employees.
Over the past few years, a number of search engines designed for the life sciences have appeared. I thought it might be informative for BioJobBlog readers to list some of the more popular ones and how they are used. I want to warn you in advance that this is not a comprehensive list. That said, if I’ve inadvertently omitted your favorite search engine, please feel free contact me or simply list it in the comments section for this post.
In the February issue of
This month Kevin has reviewed an eclectic bunch of websites. Continuing with his “down under” theme from last month, Kevin offers the 