9. Amgen - Top 15 R&D Budgets

Who: Amgen

Based: United States

2006 Pipeline Budget: $3.73 billion (€2.55)

2007 Pipeline News: 2007 was a tough year [1] for Amgen. Along with J&J, Amgen was hammered by the anemia drug controversy, causing sales of the company's most profitable drug to plummet [2]. Investors have questioned whether Amgen can recover, and if the world's largest biotech's glory days have passed. However, Amgen has several promising drugs in its pipeline, including denosumab [3], a fully-human monoclonal antibody in Phase III testing for a number of indications. Investors are also excited about AMG531, an autoimmune blood disorder drug that treats immune thrombocytopenic purpura.

Phase III drugs:

> AMG 531 - Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (an autoimmune bleeding disorder)
> Darbepoetin alfa - Cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes
> Darbepoetin alfa - Anemia in heart failure
> Denosumab - Bone loss induced by hormone ablation therapy for breast cancer or prostate cancer
> Denosumab - Postmenopausal osteoporosis
> Denosumab - Prevention of cancer-related bone damage
> Denosumab - Prevention of bone metastases
> Cinacalcet HCI - Cardiovascular disease in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism and chronic kidney disease undergoing maintenance dialysis
> Panitumumab - First- and second-line colorectal cancer

Full Pipeline Site: Link [4]