New York, Jan 31, 2026, 17:04 EST — Market closed.
- Amgen shares dipped 0.3% on Friday, holding steady following a late-week filing about a crucial pipeline partnership
- The company announced it will release its fourth-quarter and full-year results after the market closes on Feb. 3
- With large-cap healthcare earnings accelerating, traders are reevaluating their portfolio strategies
Amgen shares slipped roughly 0.3% to $341.88 on Friday, barely moving ahead of a busy week packed with catalysts. The biotech is set to unwind its partnership with Japan’s Kyowa Kirin.
The near-term setup is crucial as Amgen reports earnings on Tuesday. Investors will focus on which projects the company chooses to fund and which it lets go, given the pipeline’s growing importance in the stock’s story following a stretch of strong performance in large-cap pharma.
The Kyowa Kirin setback offers a new angle on shifting priorities. It comes as Wall Street dives further into earnings season, with a jobs report due later this week that might shake up rate expectations and risk sentiment.
Amgen announced in an SEC filing on Jan. 30 that it has agreed to terminate its 2021 license and collaboration deal with Kyowa Kirin. The termination will take effect once regulatory approval is secured. The filing was made via an 8-K, a form U.S. companies use to disclose significant events.
Kyowa Kirin announced it will take back control of the global rocatinlimab program, overseeing regulatory filings and future commercialization. The company plans to submit regulatory applications in the first half of 2026. The drug targets moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema.
“Kyowa Kirin is confident in the potential of rocatinlimab,” said Abdul Mullick, the company’s president and chief operating officer. The company also confirmed that Amgen will keep manufacturing rocatinlimab.
Amgen slipped on Friday, but not as sharply as the wider biotech sector. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF dropped roughly 1.1%, while the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund gained about 0.6%.
Analysts from smaller firms viewed the move less as a scientific shock and more as a commercial reset. William Blair’s Matt Phipps told BioPharma Dive the drug’s side-effect profile poses a “commercial challenge” for chronic disease. Meanwhile, Leerink Partners’ David Risinger said Amgen’s decision didn’t come as a surprise.
Oppenheimer bumped its price target on Amgen to $400 from $380, maintaining an Outperform rating ahead of the earnings release. The firm projects adjusted EPS at $4.64, slightly below the $4.73 consensus, per TheFly.
With U.S. markets closed until Monday, attention turns to Tuesday’s earnings and management’s take on the trade-offs involved in exiting Kyowa Kirin. Investors will be listening closely for updates on late-stage spending, business development moves, and the timing of regulatory filings throughout the portfolio.
The story could still take an unexpected turn. The filing notes the termination only kicks in once regulators give the green light. Plus, the financial fallout from pulling out of a late-stage program often remains unclear until updated guidance and disclosures emerge.
Amgen will release its fourth-quarter and full-year results after the U.S. market closes on Feb. 3. The earnings call will follow, where investors usually dig into pipeline priorities, plans for capital returns, and what to expect in 2026.
