Biotech giant Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, California, has sold off Japanese rights to develop and commercialize up to 13 molecules from its pipeline to Takeda Pharmaceutical for a combination of upfront payments, development funding and potential milestone payments that could total more than a billion dollars, plus royalties on product sales. The compounds include the epidermal growth factor receptor-targeting mAb Vectibix (panitumumab), biologics in oncology, inflammation, and neurology/pain, and the small-molecule angiogenesis inhibitor motesanib diphosphate, which Takeda will co-develop worldwide. “The development programs included in this collaboration represent the growth engine for Amgen in the next decade,” states Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer. This cost-sharing move is in keeping with Amgen's streamlining of operations following a sharp drop-off in revenues from its Aranesp franchise, after regulators raised safety concerns around erythropoietin-stimulating agents last year (Nat. Biotechnol. 25, 607, 2007). But Takeda's $300 million upfront payment and $340 million in defrayed R&D expenses won't boost Amgen's 2008 earnings, the company says. Eric Schmidt, senior research analyst at SG Cowen in New York, downplays the significance of the deal, which also includes the transfer of the shares of Amgen's 16-year-old Japanese subsidiary, Amgen KK. “[-] Royalties from Japan are likely to be modest,” Schmidt says. “I don't see this deal as meaningful at all.” MR