THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2006--Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), today issued the following statement:
In response to Amgen's April 11, 2006 filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, D.C., the ITC has decided to institute an investigation of Roche's importation of pegylated recombinant human erythropoietin (peg-EPO) into the United States. Amgen is asking the ITC to issue a permanent exclusion order that would prohibit importation of peg-EPO into the United States.
The ITC is an independent federal agency that protects U.S. companies and industries from unfair trade practices. Amgen anticipates the ITC investigation will proceed over the normal course of the next several months.
Amgen believes that an investigation by the ITC is an appropriate step towards ensuring fair competition in the United States. We believe Roche's peg-EPO violates six of our U.S. patents and does not provide any additional clinical or patient benefit over Amgen's innovative therapies, EPOGEN(R) (Epoetin alfa) and Aranesp(R) (darbepoetin alfa).
Amgen revolutionized anemia treatment with the introduction of EPOGEN. EPOGEN, along with Aranesp have accumulated over four million combined patient years of experience. Amgen continues to invest heavily in meaningful research to improve the lives of patients with kidney, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Amgen has great confidence in its patent portfolio and a proven track record of protecting its therapies from infringers. In addition to the ITC investigation, Amgen is simultaneously pursuing a federal lawsuit against Roche that was filed on November 8, 2005.
CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks Marie Fay, 805-447-4587 (media) Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (investors) SOURCE: Amgen