NEW YORK, January 7, 2026, 19:17 EST — After-hours
Amgen shares (AMGN.O) rose 3.5% to $341.64 in Wednesday’s regular session and were last near that level after the bell. UBS assumed coverage with a buy rating and a $380 price target, saying it sees “upside from EPS and pipeline.”
Why this matters now is simple: investors are testing whether Amgen’s next growth bets can outrun erosion in older blockbusters. The FDA on Tuesday approved Amneal’s denosumab biosimilars — near-copies of complex biologic drugs that typically enter at lower prices — as alternatives to Amgen’s Prolia and Xgeva, products with about $5.3 billion in annual U.S. sales as of October 2025, the Center for Biosimilars reported.
Amgen is also heading into the industry’s busiest investor window. The company said CEO Robert Bradway will present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Jan. 12 at 3:45 p.m. PT, a spot where executives often field questions on pipeline timing, pricing and deal plans.
On Tuesday, Amgen said it had acquired Britain’s Dark Blue Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $840 million, adding an early-stage oncology program aimed at acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. Research chief Jay Bradner said there is an “urgent need for new mechanisms” in AML. Amgen
Dark Blue’s lead candidate is a preclinical drug designed to degrade two proteins linked to certain AML subtypes, according to BioPharma Dive. The approach, called targeted protein degradation, aims to tag harmful proteins so the body breaks them down; Dark Blue CEO Alastair MacKinnon said he was “confident that Amgen will build on our preclinical work.” BioPharma Dive
Amgen’s gain stood out on a down day for the broader market, with the S&P 500 off 0.34% and the Dow down 0.94%, MarketWatch data showed. The stock is within sight of its 52-week high of $346.38, and volume on Wednesday topped its 50-day average.
Still, the upbeat read depends on execution. Faster-than-expected price pressure in denosumab, or setbacks in MariTide and other late-stage trials, would revive questions about how smooth Amgen’s handoff from older products will be.
Next up is Bradway’s Jan. 12 appearance at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, followed by quarterly results expected around Feb. 3 — where guidance on biosimilar impact and pipeline spending is likely to dominate the call.
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