Fitch Rates Amgen's New Senior Unsecured Notes 'A'

CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'A' rating to Amgen Inc.'s (Amgen)
public issuance of senior unsecured debt, comprising 10-year and
30-year senior unsecured notes. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Proceeds
from the new senior unsecured debt are expected to be used to redeem
all or some of Amgen's senior floating-rate notes due November 2008.

Fitch rates Amgen's other debt categories as follows:

--Issuer Default Rating at 'A';

--Bank Loans at 'A';

--Commercial paper at 'F1'.

Amgen's ratings reflect strong liquidity which was provided by
full capacity under its $2.5 billion credit facility maturing November
2012, and cash and short-term investments of approximately $8.6
billion at the end of the first quarter of 2008. Additionally, Amgen
generated $4.98 billion of free cash flow for the latest 12-month
(LTM) period ending March 31, 2008, increasing from $4.1 billion in
2007, despite the dramatic slowdown in U.S. Aranesp revenues. Fitch
expects free cash flow in 2008 to remain consistent with 2007 as
continued pressure on revenues will likely be offset by cost savings
from its restructuring program.

Leverage (total debt-to-EBITDA) was 1.64 times (x) for the LTM
period ending March 31, 2008. Fitch anticipates leverage to be
relatively stable despite demand pressure on Amgen's Aranesp product
continuing into the first half of 2008, competition from biosimilars
of erthythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) and granulocyte colony
stimulating factors (G-CSFs) in Europe, as well as an expectation that
near-term debt maturities will be refinanced. Amgen has $2 billion of
floating-rate notes due in November 2008 and approximately $1 billion
of 4% senior unsecured notes due November 2009.

The company took quick action after determining the permanence of
the market trend for its ESA franchise by implementing significant
cost initiatives in August 2007. Annual savings from the restructuring
plan, estimated between $1 billion and $1.3 billion, will support
EBITDA margins while the company increases promotional spending in the
intermediate term ahead of potential commercialization of its
late-stage R&D pipeline, and continued investment toward advancing the
sizable mid-stage R&D program.

Amgen's overall R&D program is active and diverse, but the
late-stage pipeline is thin in comparison to its peers. Current
revenue concentration may be eased with the regulatory approval and
market introduction over the intermediate term of Amgen's most
promising therapeutic, denosumab. The late-stage osteoporosis and
oncology treatment has potential to become a multi-billion-dollar
pharmaceutical product. Amgen's mid-stage R&D program focuses on the
core therapeutic categories, oncology, inflammation, and bone and
metabolic disorders, as well as broader indications for commercialized
drug products and current late-stage R&D projects.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings
are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com.
Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this
site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality,
conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other
relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of
Conduct' section of this site.

Fitch Ratings
Michael Zbinovec, +1-312-368-3164 (Chicago)
Lauren Coste, +1-312-606-2320 (Chicago)
Brian Bertsch, +1 212-908-0549
(Media Relations, New York)

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