Amgen Inc.
Amgen Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout. It also markets other products, including PROLIA, REPATHA, OTEZLA, ENBREL, EVENITY, XGEVA, TEPEZZA, BLINCYTO, NPLATE, TEZSPIRE, KYPROLIS, ARANESP, KRYSTEXXA AND VECTIBIX, MVASI, PAVBLU, UPLIZNA, IMDELLTRA/IMDYLLTRA, AMJEVITA/AMGEVITA, TAVNEOS, NEULASTA, LUMAKRAS/LUMYKRAS, RAVICTI, PARSABIV, AIMOVIG, WEZLANA/WEZENLA, AND PROCYSBI. The company serves healthcare providers, including physicians or their clinics, dialysis centers, hospitals, and pharmacies. It distributes its products through pharmaceutical wholesale distributors. The company has collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca plc for the development and commercialization of TEZSPIRE; BEONE MEDICINES LTD. to develop and commercialize Aimovig; UCB for the development and commercialization of EVENITY; Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. for rocatinlimab development and commercialization; and BeiGene, Ltd. for oncology products expansion and development. The company was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.
What does it do?
Amgen is one of the world's largest biotech companies — it makes medicines derived from living cells rather than chemicals. Think of drugs like Enbrel, which helps people with rheumatoid arthritis live with less pain and swelling, or Repatha, which lowers bad cholesterol for people who can't control it with diet alone. Amgen sells these medicines to hospitals, pharmacies, and patients across the US and internationally. It's essentially a pharmaceutical giant, but one that specialises in complex biological drugs that are much harder for competitors to copy.
Amgen is one of the few large drugmakers actively building in the weight-loss and obesity drug space through its MariTide candidate, putting it in direct competition with the hottest trend in healthcare right now. Its $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics in 2023 significantly expanded its rare disease portfolio, making it a much bigger player overnight. With over $36 billion in annual revenue, it's large enough that its moves ripple through the entire healthcare sector.
How does it make money?
Amgen makes money by selling prescription medicines — its top products generated the bulk of its $36.8 billion in 2024 revenue, up from $33.4 billion the year before, a healthy 10% jump. Enbrel (arthritis), Prolia (osteoporosis), and Repatha (cholesterol) are among its biggest earners, with Repatha growing fast as more doctors prescribe it. The Horizon acquisition added Tepezza (a rare thyroid eye disease drug) and Krystexxa to the lineup, diversifying where the money comes from. Net income came in at $7.7 billion, meaning Amgen kept roughly 21 cents of profit for every dollar of sales.
Why do investors care?
The most exciting part of Amgen's story right now is MariTide, its experimental weight-loss drug that works differently from Ozempic and Wegovy — it's a monthly injection rather than weekly, which could be a real advantage for patients. If MariTide succeeds in clinical trials, Amgen could grab a meaningful slice of what analysts expect to be a $150 billion+ obesity drug market. The Horizon acquisition also gives it rare disease drugs that face very little competition and command premium prices. For the thesis to work, MariTide needs to prove it's effective and differentiated, and Amgen needs to keep growing its existing blockbusters while managing the significant debt taken on to buy Horizon.
Deep Dive
MemberA full investor briefing on Amgen Inc. — history, leadership, risks, and outlook.