Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Amgen paid roughly $400M for Ilypsa's kidney-disease platform in 2007 but immediately expensed $320M as in-process R&D and spun off most of the team and technology as Relypsa within months. Relypsa went on to develop the real winner, Veltassa, for a different set of investors, leaving Amgen with little to show beyond an undisclosed minority stake.
Amgen paid ~$400M for Ilypsa's kidney-disease platform, immediately expensed $320M as IPR&D, never launched a product from the retained phosphate-binder asset, and spun out most of the team and technology as Relypsa within months — Relypsa then built the real winner (Veltassa/patiromer) for new investors, not Amgen.
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Ilypsa and ILY101 are a strategic fit for Amgen's nephrology portfolio — George J. Morrow, EVP Global Commercial Operations.
Amgen later spun out part of the Ilypsa platform as Relypsa in October 2007, focused on polymeric drug discovery — preserving long-tail value from the Ilypsa…
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$420M cash. Closed July 18, 2007. Non-absorbed kidney disease drugs (ILY101 hyperphosphatemia). Source: Amgen press release.
Amgen paid ~$400M for Ilypsa's kidney-disease platform, immediately expensed $320M as IPR&D, never launched a product from the retained phosphate-binder asset, and spun out most of the team and technology as Relypsa within months — Relypsa then built the real winner (Veltassa/patiromer) for new investors, not Amgen.
Assessment window: 15yr post-close.
$2.1B Global phosphate binder market 2022 (~$2.1B)
Hyperphosphatemia is elevated serum phosphate, predominantly seen in advanced CKD and end-stage renal disease patients on dialysis. Untreated, it drives vascular calcification, secondary hyperparathyroidism, renal osteodystrophy, and cardiovascular mortality. Management relies on oral phosphate binders taken with meals to prevent dietary phosphate absorption.
At deal time (June 2007), the phosphate binder market was led by Genzyme's sevelamer franchise (Renagel/Renvela), which became a >$500M/year drug and reached peak market share of 25-30%. Shire's Fosrenol (lanthanum carbonate) and various calcium-based binders (PhosLo) covered the rest. ILY101 was positioned as a next-generation non-absorbed polymer binder claiming improved selectivity and binding capacity vs. sevelamer. The deal gave Amgen a near-term-launchable nephrology asset to complement Aranesp/Epogen at a moment when ESA safety concerns were eroding 50% of Amgen's revenue and 60% of profits. Notably, Amgen later spun out Ilypsa's potassium-binder platform as Relypsa in October 2007, which eventually developed Veltassa (patiromer) for hyperkalemia — making the Ilypsa transaction strategically valuable beyond ILY101 itself, though ILY101 did not progress to FDA approval under Amgen.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amgen Inc. / Ilypsa Inc. (this deal) | 2007 | $420M | 19 |
| Amgen Inc. / Immunex Corporation | 2002 | $16.0B | 92 |
| Amgen Inc. / Immunex Corporation | 2001 | $16.0B | 91 |
| Amgen Inc. / Micromet Inc. | 2012 | $1.2B | 88 |
| Amgen Inc. / Five Prime Therapeutics | 2021 | $1.9B | 78 |
| Amgen Inc. / Horizon Therapeutics plc | 2022 | $27.8B | 72 |
| Amgen Inc. / Otezla (from Celgene/BMS) | 2019 | $13.4B | 68 |
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