THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN - News) announced today that it has agreed to acquire Alantos, a private company developing drugs for the treatment of diabetes and inflammatory diseases. Alantos’ lead drug candidate, ALS 2-0426, is a DPP-IV inhibitor in clinical development (Phase 2a) for the treatment of type II diabetes.
Under terms of the agreement, Amgen will pay $300 million in cash to acquire Alantos. Following completion of the transaction, Alantos will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amgen. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of each company and the shareholders of Alantos. It is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007.
ALS 2-0426 is an orally administered inhibitor of DPP-IV, which in turn inactivates glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an important mediator of blood glucose levels following meals. Studies suggest that ALS 2-0426 is potent, highly selective and can be administered once per day. Phase 2a studies were initiated in May in collaboration with Servier, who is the development and ex-US commercialization partner for the compound.
“We are pleased to add this clinical stage DPP-IV inhibitor to our growing portfolio of therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases,” said Roger M. Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., Amgen’s executive vice president for Research and Development. “We also intend to pursue the MMP program with the hope of bringing a novel, disease modifying therapy into the clinic for osteoarthritis.”
“We are happy to have reached an agreement with Amgen that will build on the important research and development accomplished to date and will help to advance promising compounds to patients with serious and life-threatening illnesses,” said Alantos’s chief executive officer, Keith E. Dionne, Ph.D.
About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science’s promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a deep and broad pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people’s lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.
About Alantos
Alantos Pharmaceuticals is a chemistry-driven biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary pipeline of small molecule drugs focused in the area of type II diabetes and osteoarthritis / inflammation. With locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Heidelberg, Germany, Alantos Pharmaceuticals employs 45 people.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below and others that can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, and in our periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Amgen is providing this information as of the date of this news release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those we project. The Company’s results may be affected by our ability to successfully market both new and existing products domestically and internationally, clinical and regulatory developments (domestic or foreign) involving current and future products, sales growth of recently launched products, competition from other products (domestic or foreign), difficulties or delays in manufacturing our products. In addition, sales of our products are affected by reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payors, including governments, private insurance plans and managed care providers and may be affected by regulatory, clinical and guideline developments and domestic and international trends toward managed care and health care cost containment as well as U.S. legislation affecting pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. Government and others’ regulations and reimbursement policies may affect the development, usage and pricing of our products. Furthermore, our research, testing, pricing, marketing and other operations are subject to extensive regulation by domestic and foreign government regulatory authorities. We or others could identify safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with our products after they are on the market. Our business may be impacted by government investigations, litigation and products liability claims. Further, while we routinely obtain patents for our products and technology, the protection offered by our patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors. We depend on third parties for a significant portion of our manufacturing capacity for the supply of certain of our current and future products and limits on supply may constrain sales of certain of our current products and product candidate development. In addition, we compete with other companies with respect to some of our marketed products as well as for the discovery and development of new products. Discovery or identification of new product candidates cannot be guaranteed and movement from concept to product is uncertain; consequently, there can be no guarantee that any particular product candidate will be successful and become a commercial product. Further, some raw materials, medical devices and component parts for our products are supplied by sole third-party suppliers.
Contact: Amgen, Thousand Oaks David Polk, 805-447-4613 (media) Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (investors)
Source: Amgen
