On Jun. 17, 1983, Applied Molecular Genetics (AMGen), led by CFO Gordon Binder issued its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 2,350,000 shares at $18 per share and raised $40 million leading the way for other biotech IPO’s. Later in the year, the company officially changed its name from Applied Molecular Genetics to Amgen.

Amgen’s story is defined by the discoveries of two blockbuster products—recombinant versions of erythropoietin (EPO) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)—that were commercialized nine and eleven years, respectively, from company founding. In other words—big products, real fast. George Rathmann, who co-founded, the company was the company CEO and In 1982, Gordon Binder joined as the company’s first CFO.

On the eve of launching EPO and for slightly more than a decade thereafter, Binder succeeded Rathmann as CEO and led Amgen’s creation of billions of dollars of value in product revenues and market capitalization.