Amgen

Amgen was established in Thousand Oaks, California, on April 8, 1980, as AMGen, or Applied Molecular Genetics, with an initial staff of three. The company grew out of the early biotechnology field and set its scientific direction around using molecular biology to develop treatments for disease. [1]

Amgen's early research produced two defining medicines. In 1983, researchers cloned the human erythropoietin gene, enabling the development of EPOGEN; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved EPOGEN in 1989. A separate team cloned granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in 1985, leading to NEUPOGEN, which received FDA approval in 1991. Amgen and Kirin also formed the Kirin-Amgen joint venture in 1984 to commercialize erythropoietin worldwide. [1]

Today Amgen describes itself as a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers medicines for serious illnesses. It reports a presence in approximately 100 countries and focuses on general medicine, rare disease, inflammation and oncology, with current research using biology, technology and human genetic data to pursue new medicines. [2] [3]

Amgen operates as one human-therapeutics segment and maintains major research centers in the United States, Iceland and the United Kingdom. In 2025 it opened a drug-substance facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, broke ground on a second facility there, expanded manufacturing in Ohio and Puerto Rico, and began construction of a new science and innovation center at its Thousand Oaks headquarters. [3]