Published January 2002

Amgen Inc. plans
to buy Immunex

Herald Business Journal Staff

Amgen Inc. announced in December that it is buying Seattle-based Immunex Corp. for $16 billion in stock and cash in a deal that will add a blockbuster arthritis drug and two other best sellers to its roster of medicines and give the firm control of Immunex’s rheumatoid arthritis drug, Enbrel.

Immunex’s two other big drugs are Leukine, which stimulates infection-fighting white blood cells, and Novantrone, which kills cancer cells and reduces inflammation that contributes to worsening forms of multiple sclerosis.

Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., already makes Epogen, used to treat anemia, and Neupogen, used to reduce infection in chemotherapy patients.

It was not immediately known how the merger would affect Immunex staff and facilities in the Puget Sound area, which include a facility at Canyon Park in Snohomish County and a $750 million research facility under construction on the Seattle waterfront.

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