On Jul. 16, 2002, Amgen completed it’s acquisition of Immunex Corporation for $16 billion in stock and net cash. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, each share of Immunex common stock was exchanged for a fixed ratio of 0.44 shares of Amgen common stock and cash of $4.50.

As previously announced, Ed Fritzky, formerly chairman and chief executive officer of Immunex, become a member of Amgen’s board of directors, and Doug Williams, Ph.D., previously Immunex executive vice president and chief technology officer, led the Seattle research site. Peggy Phillips, who was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Immunex, was expected to serve as a special advisor to Amgen.

Immunex, the largest biotechnology company in the Pacific Northwest at the time, was founded in 1981 by Steven Gillis and Christopher Henney from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Stephen Duzan, the founding CEO of the company.

Immunex became publicly traded in 1983, and in 1991, with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug Leukine, it became only the third fully integrated pharmaceutical company to be created in the United States since 1945.

Amgen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets important human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology.

Immunex, the largest biotechnology company in the Pacific Northwest at the time, was founded in 1981 by Steven Gillis and Christopher Henney from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Stephen Duzan, the founding CEO of the company.

Immunex became publicly traded in 1983, and in 1991, with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug Leukine, it became only the third fully integrated pharmaceutical company to be created in the United States since 1945.