Amgen acquires filgrastim rights from Roche in certain territories

Amgen has announced that it is to acquire the rights to the filgrastim franchise from Roche in around 100 markets.

Roche has held the rights to filgrastim and pegfilgrastim under license from Kirin-Amgen in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa since 1989, but they are now set to be transferred to Amgen from January 1st 2014.

Filgrastim and pegfilgrastim are white blood cell boosting therapies to reduce the risk of infection in patients receiving chemotherapy and are marketed by Amgen in the US and Europe under the brand names Neupogen and Neulasta.

Amgen will start selling the products in countries where it has an existing commercial presence as soon as possible, with Roche and its distributors to continue supplying the drugs in other markets during a transitional period.

Robert Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer of Amgen, said: "The transaction will also allow us to build experience and capacity in countries that will be important in accelerating future growth of Amgen's pipeline products."

Earlier this month, Amgen announced that it will be allying with KineMed on a biomarker research project in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.