Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Amgen Inc. / Ilypsa Inc.

2007 · Acquisition/Merger · $420M · Complete

WRONG BY 69 POINTS

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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Ranks computed across 828 graded deals (Critic + Outcome Score both present).

The coverage arc

Jun 04, 2007 Amgen Investor Relations Bullish

Ilypsa and ILY101 are a strategic fit for Amgen's nephrology portfolio — George J. Morrow, EVP Global Commercial Operations.

Oct 01, 2007 FierceBiotech (Relypsa formation) Neutral

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…

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

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$420M cash. Closed July 18, 2007. Non-absorbed kidney disease drugs (ILY101 hyperphosphatemia). Source: Amgen press release.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

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.

Strategic verdict
Failed to Achieve

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Amgen Inc. / Ilypsa Inc. (this deal)2007$420M19
Amgen Inc. / Immunex Corporation2002$16.0B92
Amgen Inc. / Immunex Corporation2001$16.0B91
Amgen Inc. / Micromet Inc.2012$1.2B88
Amgen Inc. / Five Prime Therapeutics2021$1.9B78
Amgen Inc. / Horizon Therapeutics plc2022$27.8B72
Amgen Inc. / Otezla (from Celgene/BMS)2019$13.4B68

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