THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2004--Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, today announced the appointment of Willard Dere, M.D. to the position of senior vice president, Global Development. In addition, Dere will also be named Amgen's chief medical officer. Dere, formerly vice president and head of General Medicine at Amgen, will be responsible for leading Amgen's development organization, one of the strongest in the industry with more than 40 R&D programs underway and nearly 50,000 patients enrolled in clinical trials. Dere will report to Roger M. Perlmutter, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president, Research and Development. Dere replaces Beth Seidenberg, M.D., who is leaving Amgen to pursue other career interests.
"Since joining Amgen, Will has successfully led the Inflammation and General Medicine Therapeutic Areas and made significant contributions to the overall advancement of Amgen's development organization," said Perlmutter. "He brings tremendous expertise and broad experience to his new role, and I am confident that under Will's leadership our world-class development organization will continue to be at the forefront of developing important new medicines."
Dere joined Amgen in 2003 as vice president and head of the Inflammation Therapeutic Area. Earlier this year, Dere was appointed vice president and head of General Medicine, a new emerging therapeutic focus area for Amgen. Prior to joining Amgen, Dere was vice president of Endocrine, Bone and General Medicine Research and Development at Eli Lilly and Company, where he led teams that successfully registered new therapies for osteoporosis. He previously was a clinical associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine and held hospital appointments at Wishard Memorial Hospital and Richard L. Roudebush Veteran's Administration Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was also an assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine and held hospital appointments at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dere received his medical and undergraduate degrees from the University of California at Davis. He has served on committees of several professional organizations, including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research, and the Group for Respect, Excellence and Ethics in Science.
About Amgen
Amgen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets important human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology and medicinal chemistry.
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SOURCE: Amgen Inc.