U.S. biotech’s Burnaby wing flying high

Grant Wing
Business in Vancouver
Issue 921- June 19-25, 2007

Biotech giant Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN) is committed to maintaining a significant presence in the Lower Mainland a year after acquiring Abgenix Inc. and its Burnaby facilities, according to Amgen B.C.’s boss.

Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen, which had revenue of US$14.3 billion in 2006, is the world’s largest biotechnology company. It has facilities in more than 30 countries and more than 20,000 full-time employees.

It pioneered the development of drugs based on advances in recombinant DNA and molecular biology and launched the biotechnology industry’s first blockbuster medicines.

Its products include biological drugs used to prevent anemia in kidney patients and infections in chemotherapy patients. It also makes a biological rheumatoid arthritis drug and has an extensive pipeline of compounds in various stages of clinical trial.

In April 2006, Amgen acquired Fremont, California-based Abgenix, with its Burnaby research facility, for US$2.2 billion. Amgen B.C. now has 65 employees in its Burnaby facilities, the company’s second Canadian site in addition to Mississauga, Ontario.

Abgenix, which was founded in 1996 and went public in 1998, was one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s oldest and largest biotechnology companies. It developed a technology platform using genetically engineered mouse strains to help produce human antibodies for therapeutic uses.

Amgen and Abgenix collaborated on developing two major drug candidates: the cancer therapy panitumumab and denosumab, a treatment for osteoporosis and bone cancer.

The acquisition gave Amgen full control of panitumumab, which received FDA approval in September 2006. Some analysts believe panitumumab could be a potential blockbuster antibody therapy for various types of cancer, including colorectal and lung.

Amgen B.C.’s executive director of research, Mike Gallo, who came to B.C. with Abgenix in 2001, is enthusiastic about the year following the acquisition.

"Amgen has been great," said Gallo. "I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been on acquisitions and now being acquired, and it’s been great. They’ve done a great job."

He said Amgen’s familiarity with the Burnaby operation’s technology and capabilities from earlier collaborations with Abgenix made post-acquisition integration with Amgen easy.

Amgen B.C. is part of Amgen’s protein science department and its larger translational sciences group. Gallo reports directly to Amgen’s president of protein sciences.

The Burnaby site uses technology pioneered by ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., a UBC Biomedical Research Centre spinoff acquired earlier by Abgenix in 2001 in a stock deal worth roughly US$77 million.

About four years ago, Abgenix moved to a new 80,000-square-foot research facility on Enterprise Street in Burnaby, near SFU.

In June 2005, Abgenix moved its research and pre-clinical activities from Fremont to Burnaby. The move resulted in a 15% cut in Abgenix’s workforce, which was then about 520 employees. The company retained its staff of between 50 and 60 Burnaby employees then.

At about the same time as Abgenix’s acquisition was completed in April 2006, Amgen cut 98 employees from the former Abgenix facility in Fremont, but kept all of the employees at the former Abgenix Burnaby facility.

The ImmGenics technology uses molecular genetics techniques and robotic automation to accelerate the search for therapeutic antibodies.

Gallo said Amgen, which had research and development expenses of more than US$3 billion in 2006, has embraced the innovations pioneered here and continues to develop them.

Amgen B.C. also contributes to translational science by supplying reagents and antibodies to make discoveries in human studies more effective and meaningful earlier.

Gallo said development has been rapid at the young facility and some exciting discoveries will be coming from the Burnaby site.

He said Amgen’s commitment to the Burnaby site is reflected in the substantial improvements to the facility’s network and computing infrastructure and communications equipment in the past year.

Amgen B.C. is focused on research discovering and validating drug targets using human antibodies. The Burnaby site handles mostly preclinical research and has a number of projects looking at oncology, inflammation and metabolic therapeutic target areas. Amgen also has projects supporting neurological research therapies.

He said there are no immediate plans to expand research staff at the Burnaby facility, and any increases will be strategic to accommodate Amgen’s overall research needs. However, Gallo said he’s satisfied with the quality and quantity of talent available locally. He added that the Burnaby site, built to accommodate 95 employees, has capacity for growth.

"Historically, as the company’s grown, as its commitment to its pipeline grows, Amgen has an impressive commitment in its R&D spending. I think it’s just with time it will determine what it will grow here," Gallo said.

Vancouver biotechnology veteran Kevin Leslie, who was ImmGenics president and CEO, said Amgen’s decision to maintain the Burnaby facility and its employees is a vote of confidence by the world’s biggest biotechnology company.

"I think it’s a fascinating story just from the standpoint of what usually happens after the international acquisition of a local company. The company usually disappears from the community, and the benefits of the company being in B.C. or Canada disappears from the economy, and this is an example where that hasn’t happened and it’s an unusual example in B.C.," said Lesley.