Amgen's Harper Says Repatha Is Priced Right

The things that keep Sean Harper up at night have changed over the last few years as science has advanced and the drug development landscape has changed. Harper, who is the head of R&D at big biotech Amgen Inc., once worried that his company wouldn't be able to keep up, now he's concerned with where the money is going to come from.

"If you look back even five, seven years ago, what kept me up at night was, 'Can we innovate and make stuff that really matters at a rate that could possibly keep a company like Amgen afloat?' Now, I don't worry about that," said Harper in an interview. "Now, I worry about the fact that real innovation – that over time is cost-effective to our system and beneficial to society – can't be paid for because of this affordability issue. Now that keeps me up at night wondering how we are going to deal with this."

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Scrip for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required

More from Business

GSK Talks Up Nucala COPD Hospitalization Data In Challenge To Dupixent

 
• By 

As the PDUFA date for the UK major’s IL-5 inhibitor draws close.

Novartis Doubles Down On Push For Higher Drug Prices In Europe

 

CEO Vas Narasimhan urged European governments to spend more to support drug innovation during Novartis's first-quarter results call.

Zai’s R&D Head Touts ‘Beauty’ Of Novel Internal Assets

 

Two potentially first-in-class molecules signify Zai Lab’s renewed drive for the in-house discovery of drugs that it requires “to be innovative, differentiated and to have the potential to make a big difference for patients,” its global R&D head tells Scrip.

BridgeBio Takes A Victory Lap With First Full Quarter Of Attruby Sales

 
• By 

BridgeBio reported $36.7m in Q1 2025 sales of its ATTR-CM drug Attruby, tripling consensus forecasts. Vyndaquel-maker Pfizer acknowledged the product’s impact during the quarter.

More from Scrip

BridgeBio Takes A Victory Lap With First Full Quarter Of Attruby Sales

 
• By 

BridgeBio reported $36.7m in Q1 2025 sales of its ATTR-CM drug Attruby, tripling consensus forecasts. Vyndaquel-maker Pfizer acknowledged the product’s impact during the quarter.

Novartis Gains Further Renal Territory With Regulus Acquisition

 

The San Diego biotech’s lead product candidate is an antisense oligonucleotide-based therapy slated to enter Phase III development in the third quarter.

J&J’s Imaavy Approval Is The Starting Line For Pipeline-In-A-Product Strategy

 

The company’s FcRn inhibitor nipocalimab was approved by the US FDA for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), where it will join a competitive market.