Amgen to take full control of Kirin-Amgen joint venture

Amgen has agreed a deal with its long-time collaborative partner Kirin to assume complete control of their joint venture Kirin-Amgen.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Amgen will pay $780 million (586.53 million pounds) to redeem Kirin's shares in the joint venture, with Kirin-Amgen subsequently becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen.

The venture was established in 1984 as a 50-50 collaboration between Amgen and Kirin to fund the global development of the drug Epogen. Over time, the scope of the partnership was expanded to include Neupogen, Neulasta, Aranesp, Nplate and brodalumab.

In exchange for royalty rights, Kirin-Amgen will license the associated marketing rights to these therapies in certain Asian countries to Kirin's pharmaceutical subsidiary Kyowa Hakko Kirin, and in other territories to Amgen.

Robert Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen, said: "I would like to thank Kirin for more than three decades of partnership, which has enabled us to reach patients suffering from serious illness around the world with meaningful therapies."

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