Amgen Launches Partners of Choice Network of Eight Leading Oncology Academic Centers

September 20, 2023 |

11 min read

Amgen announced the launch of Amgen Partners of Choice, a new network that brings together Amgen’s oncology research and development experts and world-class clinical leaders at eight research centers across the globe.

Network Aims to Advance Collaboration Across Industry and Academia to Accelerate Treatment Development for Patients
Inaugural Scientific Summit Prioritized Advancing Translational Research, Pharmacodynamic Readouts and Innovative Biomarker-Driven Programs

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Sept. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced the launch of Amgen Partners of Choice, a new network that brings together Amgen’s oncology research and development experts and world-class clinical leaders at eight research centers across the globe. As part of Amgen’s mission to improve care through partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem, the network fosters academic collaboration to advance new treatment options for patients with the greatest unmet needs. The member institutions are:

- Asan Medical Center (Seoul, South Korea)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston)
- West German Cancer Center at University Hospital Essen (Essen, Germany)
- Gustave Roussy (Paris)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York)
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Australia)
- University Health Network’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Toronto)
- Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (Barcelona, Spain)

“We have a big goal – to make profound differences in changing the standard of cancer care – and we are committed to doing that through collaboration,” said Jean-Charles Soria, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president, Research and Development at Amgen. “Through Amgen Partners of Choice, we hope to foster earlier, deeper and more frequent academic collaboration to fuel quicker progress for patients facing complex, difficult-to-treat cancers.”

The network aims to create multiple collaboration channels globally with the goal of expediting the transition of new, transformational programs to leaders in the clinic. Current Amgen Partners of Choice projects are focused on select disease areas and tumor types including thoracic, gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers.

“We are entering an extraordinary new era in biotechnology, a moment where both the need for innovation and our ability to innovate are expanding exponentially,” said Professor Fabrice Barlesi, General Director of Gustave Roussy, Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster, Grand Paris. “As a member of Amgen Partners of Choice, we look forward to collaborating closely with Amgen and other member institutions to catalyze the next wave of innovation in the fight against cancer.”

The Amgen Partners of Choice network will convene bi-annual scientific summits where participants will discuss emerging oncology topics and advise on improving clinical trials to foster better outcomes for patients. In June, Amgen hosted the inaugural scientific summit at its headquarters, bringing together Amgen Partners of Choice members for the official launch of the new academic network. During the two-day event, Amgen leaders and network members discussed priority projects and key areas that the network will focus on and how to bring these transformational programs to patients. The next network-wide scientific summit will take place virtually later this year.

About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people’s lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

Amgen is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also part of the Nasdaq-100 index. In 2023, Amgen was named one of “America’s Greatest Workplaces” by Newsweek, one of “America’s Climate Leaders” by USA Today and one of the “World’s Best Companies” by TIME.

For more information, visit Amgen.com and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Threads.

Amgen Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Amgen. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any statements on the outcome, benefits and synergies of collaborations, or potential collaborations, with any other company (including BeiGene, Ltd., Kyowa-Kirin Co., Ltd., or any collaboration to manufacture therapeutic antibodies against COVID-19), the performance of Otezla^® (apremilast) (including anticipated Otezla sales growth and the timing of non-GAAP EPS accretion), the Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. acquisition, the Teneobio, Inc. acquisition, the ChemoCentryx, Inc. acquisition, or the proposed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc (including the potential outcome of any litigation with the Federal Trade Commission, prospective performance and outlook of Horizon’s business, performance and opportunities and any potential strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities expected as a result of such acquisition), as well as estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial metrics, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, reimbursement activities and outcomes, effects of pandemics or other widespread health problems such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, outcomes, progress, and other such estimates and results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below and more fully described in the Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed by Amgen, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Unless otherwise noted, 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. Discovery or identification of new product candidates or development of new indications for existing products cannot be guaranteed and movement from concept to product is uncertain; consequently, there can be no guarantee that any particular product candidate or development of a new indication for an existing product will be successful and become a commercial product. Further, preclinical results do not guarantee safe and effective performance of product candidates in humans. The complexity of the human body cannot be perfectly, or sometimes, even adequately modeled by computer or cell culture systems or animal models. The length of time that it takes for us to complete clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for product marketing has in the past varied and we expect similar variability in the future. Even when clinical trials are successful, regulatory authorities may question the sufficiency for approval of the trial endpoints we have selected. We develop product candidates internally and through licensing collaborations, partnerships and joint ventures. Product candidates that are derived from relationships may be subject to disputes between the parties or may prove to be not as effective or as safe as we may have believed at the time of entering into such relationship. Also, we or others could identify safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with our products, including our devices, after they are on the market.

Our results may be affected by our ability to successfully market both new and existing products domestically and internationally, clinical and regulatory developments involving current and future products, sales growth of recently launched products, competition from other products including biosimilars, difficulties or delays in manufacturing our products and global economic conditions. In addition, sales of our products are affected by pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny and reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers, 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 healthcare cost containment. Furthermore, our research, testing, pricing, marketing and other operations are subject to extensive regulation by domestic and foreign government regulatory authorities. Our business may be impacted by government investigations, litigation and product liability claims. In addition, our business may be impacted by the adoption of new tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities. If we fail to meet the compliance obligations in the corporate integrity agreement between us and the U.S. government, we could become subject to significant sanctions. 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, or we may fail to prevail in present and future intellectual property litigation. We perform a substantial amount of our commercial manufacturing activities at a few key facilities, including in Puerto Rico, and also depend on third parties for a portion of our manufacturing activities, and limits on supply may constrain sales of certain of our current products and product candidate development. An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as COVID-19, and the public and governmental effort to mitigate against the spread of such disease, could have a significant adverse effect on the supply of materials for our manufacturing activities, the distribution of our products, the commercialization of our product candidates, and our clinical trial operations, and any such events may have a material adverse effect on our product development, product sales, business and results of operations. We rely on collaborations with third parties for the development of some of our product candidates and for the commercialization and sales of some of our commercial products. In addition, we compete with other companies with respect to many of our marketed products as well as for the discovery and development of new products. Further, some raw materials, medical devices and component parts for our products are supplied by sole third-party suppliers. Certain of our distributors, customers and payers have substantial purchasing leverage in their dealings with us. The discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate an entire class of products could have a material adverse effect on sales of the affected products and on our business and results of operations. Our efforts to collaborate with or acquire other companies, products or technology, and to integrate the operations of companies or to support the products or technology we have acquired, may not be successful. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to realize any of the strategic benefits, synergies or opportunities arising from the Horizon acquisition, and such benefits, synergies or opportunities may take longer to realize than expected. We may not obtain regulatory clearance to acquire Horizon or be able to successfully integrate Horizon, and such acquisition or integration may take longer, be more difficult or cost more than expected. A breakdown, cyberattack or information security breach of our information technology systems could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our systems and our data. Our stock price is volatile and may be affected by a number of events. Our business and operations may be negatively affected by the failure, or perceived failure, of achieving our environmental, social and governance objectives. The effects of global climate change and related natural disasters could negatively affect our business and operations. Global economic conditions may magnify certain risks that affect our business. Our business performance could affect or limit the ability of our Board of Directors to declare a dividend or our ability to pay a dividend or repurchase our common stock. We may not be able to access the capital and credit markets on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.

The scientific information discussed in this news release related to our product candidates is preliminary and investigative. Such product candidates are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and no conclusions can or should be drawn regarding the safety or effectiveness of the product candidates. Further, any scientific information discussed in this news release relating to new indications for our products is preliminary and investigative and is not part of the labeling approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the products. The products are not approved for the investigational use(s) discussed in this news release, and no conclusions can or should be drawn regarding the safety or effectiveness of the products for these uses.

CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Elissa Snook, 609-251-1407 (media)
Jessica Akopyan, 805-440-5721 (media)
Justin Claeys, 805-313-9775 (investors)