Amgen

Yuji Orihara has been appointed president and representative director, Amgen KK, effective immediately. Amgen KK was formed in 1992 in Japan as a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen, Inc. Mr. Orihara will be responsible for all aspects of the company’s commercial efforts in Japan and will be based at the Amgen KK headquarters in Tokyo.

Amgen is building Amgen KK to become a full commercial operation and a growing clinical research operation. During the next several years, the company’s commercial operations in Japan are expected to expand as it prepares for the potential launch of its late-stage pipeline products. Amgen expects to increase its staff in Japan to more than 300 by 2009.

“Yuji’s significant experience in Japan’s pharmaceutical industry make him exceptionally qualified to meet the challenges of achieving our goal of bringing Amgen’s vital medicines to patients in Japan,” said George Morrow, executive vice president, Global Commercial Operations. “I am confident that he will prove a strong leader and a collaborative partner within Amgen’s global operations to ensure organizational success.”

Mr. Orihara joins the company from Novartis Pharma K.K. where he most recently served as senior managing director in charge of the oncology, transplantation/immunology/infectious diseases, and ophthalmic business units. He also led business development and licensing as well as market access and public policy for Novartis Japan. Prior to Novartis, Mr. Orihara was the president of UCB Japan where he was successful in building a significant sales force and commercializing a series of products that yielded revenues in excess of $300 million.