Amgen (AMGN) is one of the major pharmaceutical companies seeking to enter the newly lucrative GLP-1 obesity drug market.
Chief Financial Officer Peter Griffiths told Yahoo Finance that the company is focused on building its entire pipeline around a market estimated to be worth up to $150 billion.
“If you look at the market, I think there's plenty of room. We're making significant investments towards this,” Griffiths said, adding that Amgen is considering multiple candidates in the pipeline. He pointed out that there was.
In addition to MariTide, a candidate currently in clinical trials, the company is also betting on a number of preclinical candidates. They vary in dosing method, frequency needed, and likelihood of stopping the drug, rather than current products, which have no end date once a patient starts using them.
Mr Griffiths has clear ideas about how the company needs to invest in this area, especially since it is not the first in the market.
“We think of obesity as a very diverse disease, so there will be a large number of people affected. We will need different approaches,” Griffiths said.
The company is also highlighting additional benefits of GLP-1, including its potential to treat heart disease, liver disease, sleep apnea, addiction, and more.
“We think it's a great allocation of shareholder capital and we intend to be a very strong player. Obesity is a platform for Amgen and it's not just Maritide. This is a holistic effort,” Griffiths said.
Volume up, price down
But the company isn't just focused on obesity. The recently completed $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics adds oncology products to Amgen's pipeline, and Amgen is also interested in securing a diverse pipeline for the future. have.
With the late-stage clinical pipeline on track and key market drivers experiencing strong growth in 2023, Amgen expects annual sales to reach a low end of $32.4 billion and a peak of $33.8 billion in 2024. .
Sales of Ibnity, the company's monoclonal antibody treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis, increased by 47% last year compared to 2022. Sales of the lymphoblastic leukemia drug Brincyte also increased by 47% during the same period.
But Amgen remains focused on increasing the volume of its products as the pharmaceutical industry takes aim over pricing.
“In 2018, the industry went from 35 years of rising prices to falling,” Mr Griffiths said.
On Amgen's earnings call on Tuesday, Mr. Griffiths emphasized that to maintain a strong outlook, a focus on volume growth will help counter price declines.
“Consistent with industry trends and our company's recent history, we expect price declines for our portfolio to be in the mid-single digits to single digits in 2024,” Griffiths told investors.
Anjalee Khemlani is a senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all areas of pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBM, and health policy and politics.Follow Anjali on all her social media platforms @AjKhem.
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