THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2004--Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, today announced the appointment of Brian Kotzin, M.D., to the position of vice president and head of the Inflammation Therapeutic Area, one of the company's core research and development areas. Kotzin will direct the global development efforts for all new Amgen product candidates in the inflammation area. The company also announced the appointment of Willard Dere, M.D., who formerly headed the Inflammation Therapeutic Area, to the position of vice president and head of General Medicine, a new emerging therapeutic focus area for Amgen.
"Brian is a highly respected clinical scientist with an outstanding reputation in inflammation and immunology," said Beth Seidenberg, M.D., Amgen's senior vice president, Global Development and chief medical officer. "I am confident that with his expertise and leadership, Amgen will be well-positioned to continue building its world-class inflammation franchise and developing a diverse portfolio of products focused on improving patients' lives."
Kotzin joins Amgen from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, where he served as head of Clinical Immunology in the Department of Medicine and as director of the Autoimmunity Center of Excellence. He previously held the position of professor in the Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Immunology at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. In addition to previous academic posts in rheumatology and microbiology/immunology, Kotzin served at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Denver as chief of the Rheumatology Section. He received his medical degree from Stanford and undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Southern California. He is board certified in rheumatology and internal medicine.
Kotzin has won numerous honors, including the Kirkland Scholar Award for Lupus Research, the Henry Claman Chair in Clinical Immunology, the Gretchen Kramer Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medicine, and Chairmanship of the National Institutes of Health Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence. Kotzin was recently appointed to the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. He has published extensively and served on the editorial boards of Arthritis and Rheumatism, The Journal of Immunology and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Dere will now lead general medicine, a new therapeutic area for Amgen consisting of bone, metabolism, nephrology, neurology, cardiology and endocrinology. The creation of this new therapeutic area demonstrates Amgen's commitment to its growing portfolio of general medicine products.
"We are pleased to recognize Will's accomplishments with this appointment," said Seidenberg. "Since joining Amgen in 2003, he has made significant contributions to our product development organization and he brings a tremendous amount of experience in general medicine to this new key position."
Prior to joining Amgen and successfully leading the inflammation therapeutic area, Dere was vice president of Endocrine, Bone and General Medicine Research and Development at Eli Lilly and Company. He previously was clinical associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine and held hospital appointments at Wishard Memorial Hospital and Richard Roudebush Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also was an assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine and held hospital appointments at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dere received his medical and undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Davis.
Amgen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets important human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology.
CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Mary Klem, 805-447-4587 (media)
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SOURCE: Amgen Inc.