Upjohn Challenges Amgen in Market for New Drug

Amgen’s bid to be the dominant seller of a new biotechnology drug has received a fresh challenge from Upjohn, a major U.S. drug concern.

Upjohn said it plans to market the same anti-anemia drug, called erythropoietin (EPO), in the United States through a joint venture with Chugai Pharmaceutical of Japan. Chugai is licensed to make the drug by Genetics Institute of Cambridge, Mass.

However, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen claims to have an exclusive U.S. patent on EPO and, last month, the company alleged that Chugai was infringing that patent by making the drug in Japan and then exporting it to the United States for clinical testing. The tests are necessary to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the drug.

Amgen asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate its allegations, which Chugai and Genetics Institute have denied.

Harry F. Hixson, Amgen’s senior vice president for business operations, said the Upjohn announcement was not a surprise. Chugai “needed an ally in the United States with a major marketing presence,” he said, adding that Amgen also has teamed up with a major American health-products company, Johnson & Johnson, to sell its version of EPO.