THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced that Michael Severino, M.D., has been named senior vice president, Global Development and Corporate Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately. Severino, 46, formerly vice president, Global Development at Amgen, will replace Sean Harper, M.D. Harper, 49, was appointed Amgen's executive vice president, Research and Development.

"Since joining Amgen in 2004, Mike has demonstrated leadership across Amgen's Global Development organization and has made significant contributions to the overall advancement of Amgen's pipeline," said Sean Harper. "Mike brings broad experience and immense expertise to his new role and I am confident that under his leadership, Amgen's Global Development team will continue to deliver important new medicines for patients with serious illnesses."

Severino joined Amgen eight years ago as senior director of Inflammation Early Development. Subsequently, he held the role of head of Amgen's Proof-of-Concept group within Medical Sciences, where he was responsible for leading a team of physician-scientists responsible for Amgen's late pre-clinical and early clinical programs across all therapeutic areas. In 2006, Severino assumed leadership of the Inflammation Therapeutic Area in Global Clinical Development and was promoted in 2007 to vice president, Global Development.

Prior to joining Amgen, Severino held positions of increasing responsibility at Merck Research Laboratories across a wide range of therapeutic areas including Vaccines/Infectious Diseases, Oncology, Diabetes/Metabolic Disorders and Neurosciences.

Severino received his Doctor of Medicine from The Johns Hopkins University and completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

About Amgen

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures 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, 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, bone disease 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 vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com. Follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.

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SOURCE Amgen