BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JANUARY 10, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Amgen's Ace KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Boosted stock price by around 100% last year, to about $54 Earnings up roughly 26%, to $1.1 billion, on 21% sales hike, to $3.3 billion For most of his 11-year run as CEO of Amgen Inc. (AMGN), GORDON M. BINDER has had to listen as Wall Street carped that the biotechnology company was a two-trick pony with no hot new drug prospects. But Binder groomed that pony into a racehorse--and set Amgen stock on the fast track. Binder, 64, came to Amgen in 1982 as a finance expert to raise money for the startup. He succeeded admirably. But Binder--who makes sure to schedule his work around the annual company tennis tournament--also learned the science of biotechnology. And since taking over as CEO in 1988, he has come up with creative ways to keep Amgen from faltering. He used smart legal tactics to fend off challengers to the near monopolies held by Epogen, a 10-year-old drug used to treat anemia in dialysis patients, and Neupogen, 8 years old, which fights infections during chemotherapy. Binder also pushed the marketing envelope. Amgen hires nurses to work with oncologists and encourage them to use Neupogen to prevent as well as treat infections. The payoff: double-digit gains in both sales and earnings. Now Amgen finally has some powerful follow-up drugs. It is seeking federal approval for a longer-acting version of Epogen as well as the green light for Kineret, a drug that treats rheumatoid arthritis. However, Binder won't be around to take them to market. Next May, he'll turn Amgen over to his longtime No. 2, Kevin Sharer. Binder plans to dabble in venture capital and help one of his two sons start up a company. Once a finance guy, always a finance guy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS INTRODUCTION MANAGERS TO WATCH THE TOP ENTREPRENEURS THE TOP 25 MANAGERS Minuro Arakawa Bernard Arnault Arthur Blank Peter Bijur Gordon Binder Steve Case John Chambers James Curvey Thierry Desmarest Bernie Ebbers Tom Engibous Chris Gent Irwin Jacobs Steve Jobs Mel Karmazin James Kelly Timothy Koogle Ken Lay Jenny Ming Thomas Siebel Masayoshi Son Martha Stewart Keiji Tachikawa Jack Welch Yun Jong Yong ONLINE EXTRAS TO BUSINESS WEEK INVESTOR INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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