Biotechnology company Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) revealed on Tuesday the completion of the acquisition of the acquisition of 49% of shares of Amgen Astellas BioPharma KK (AABP) from Astellas.

Amgen Astellas BioPharma KK (AABP) is reportedly a joint venture between Amgen and Astellas established in 2013.

Upon closing, AABP is Amgen's wholly-owned affiliate in Japan and has been renamed Amgen KK.

Amgen KK focuses on the development of innovative medicines, and addressing severe unmet medical needs of patients in Japan by bringing Amgen's global pipelines, ranging from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, bone diseases through neurological diseases.

Since 2011, Amgen has expanded its geographic presence from 50 to 100 countries, enabling the company to play a growing role in serving the rapidly increasing demand for better healthcare around the world. In 2019, it invested more than USD4bn in research and development to advance numerous potential new medicines across all stages of our pipeline. In Japan, it advances treatments for serious illnesses.