Amgen to Begin to Commercialize Prolia® (denosumab) on Its Own in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Mexico
As of April 1, 2014, Amgen began to commercialize Prolia® (denosumab) on its own in the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Mexico (total of 32 countries).
The decision, mutually agreed upon by Amgen and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to end the collaboration for Prolia in these markets is aligned with Amgen's strategy to focus its existing commercial infrastructure on this important growth product. This collaboration has enabled us to build experience and establish capacity in these countries, which will be an important factor for launching our future pipeline products.
The Prolia prescribing base is more concentrated than initially envisioned and we believe we can effectively communicate the value of Prolia through focused customer targeting, while further building experience and capacity in countries that will be important in accelerating future growth of Amgen's pipeline products.
Prolia continued to grow in 2013 and remains an important therapy for patients. It generated revenues in 2013 of ~$200 million in these countries and we are paying GSK 1.5x annual revenues to terminate this agreement. We are utilizing offshore cash for this transaction.
Amgen will work closely with GSK to ensure a seamless transition for our customers, beginning immediately and concluding in all countries by the end of 2014, subject to completion of all regulatory activities.
Under an existing, separate agreement, GSK will continue to commercialize denosumab for all indications (i.e., Prolia and XGEVA®) in approximately 40 countries including China, Brazil, India and South Korea.