Amgen Projects Over $4 Billion in Biosimilars Revenue by 2030 Amid Strategic Expansion

At this year’s virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Amgen expressed strong confidence in the future prospects of its biosimilars. CEO Robert Bradway explicitly stated that Amgen’s biosimilars business will encounter significant opportunities in 2023.

In the first nine months of 2021, the total sales of five biosimilars under Amgen reached approximately $20 billion. Bradway stated that with more biosimilars being launched and the market continuously expanding, Amgen expects its biosimilar revenue to more than double by 2030. Meanwhile, in the near term, Amgen is preparing to launch its biosimilar Amjevita for AbbVie's Humira, which is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on January 31, 2023. Bradway claimed that after that, Amgen could also become one of the pioneers in launching biosimilars for Stelara, Eylea, and Soliris.

The vigorous development of biosimilars does not mean that Amgen's self-developed drugs have failed to achieve good progress. The company still pins its hopes on three key approvals received in 2021 for Tezspire, a drug for severe asthma, Otezla, a treatment for oral plaque psoriasis, and Lumakras, a lung cancer drug, to sustain the momentum of revenue growth. Regarding the market potential of Tezspire, there are currently about 2.5 million severe asthma patients whose conditions are not under control or who are eligible for biologic therapy, Bradway added, with approximately 1 million of these patients residing in the United States.

Moreover, the patient population for Otezla is also expanding. Bradway stated that Amgen has recently expanded the drug's indication label to include adult patients with plaque psoriasis, regardless of the severity of their condition, a move that increases the drug’s patient pool by 1.5 million people. Lumakras has now been approved in 35 countries and regions, with multiple reviews underway in other areas.

In other aspects, the market share of Amgen's marketed mature drugs is also increasing. Bradway stated that in the first nine months of 2021, the sales of the heart disease drug Repatha increased by 42%. The sales of osteoporosis drugs Prolia and Evenity grew by 15% and 43%, respectively, during the same period. Thanks to Kyprolis, Vectibix, Blincyto, Nplate, and Xgeva, the sales of Otezla increased by 7%, and the overall sales of Amgen's hematology and oncology business grew by 9%.

In terms of business development, Bradway believes that external innovation at Amgen has been and will continue to be a crucial component of the company’s future strategy. Notably, Amgen recently announced a $75 million investment to collaborate with Arrakis Therapeutics on developing RNA-targeted degraders to create drugs that are otherwise difficult to target—a move that aligns perfectly with Bradway’s statements at the conference.

Source: JPM 2022: Amgen dials up biosimilar ambitions, with at least $4B in expected sales by 2030