You took the discussion out of context. I did not say or insinuate that the drug should not have been developed. I was, and am, referring to the whole financial makeup of Amgen. From the beginning, Amgen has had the patient’s interest uppermost. If you go back and start from the beginning of the company, they made a decision to look for a larger patient population which would bring in more money to further expand their company. If they didn’t do this, Nplate may not have been developed. Further, with about 50 potential drugs in the pipeline, the only possible “blockbuster” I see, is Denosumab.

We need NPlate. No, it’s not going to put Amgen’s stock through the roof, but don’t throw away those 60-70,000 people.

I understand profits but all companies have a responsibility to help better society, we should all work toward a better society.

The landscape is obviously changing, regarding patents. The Mircera deal is at least better than what we have been doing since that Danish report. The U.S. government is coming down on Amgen. By this I mean, Congress, Medicare/CMS. The carriers are wielding much greater power than before and the public wants to lynch every pharma/bio they can.

I wonder why Amgen can’t see the writing on the wall!

I feel that if Amgen goes all the way through the court system, they probably would win. But,if they can get a deal as I have outlined, I say take it. At least it is money they can rely upon. Also, keep in mind that Roche has a far broader and larger sales staff that can get into areas Amgen may not be able. Keep in mind that Amgen gets ONLY ten percent of J&J’s Procrit sales. So, 25% is obviously a heck of a lot better.

How Kevin can rule the board with what appears to me as an iron hand, is something I don’t comprehend. For the company to recover, we must have new leadership and a new board, as well.

May I suggest that you re-read my article. I did not say that Amgen should take the deal as presented. I suggested they go for 25% and, a royalty extension beyond the patent expiration. I still stand on this as a very nice, reliable generation of income. Believe me, Amgen needs this. The future pipeline is not all that good. When they get excited about Nplate and the sales it may generate (about 100 million dollars plus), that’s really shameful.