Amgen and Bushu Pharma Announce Expanded Supply Chain Partnership across Japan and Asia-Pacific Region

Bushu Pharmaceuticals Ltd.has agreed on an expanded partnership with Amgen Inc. and Amgen K.K. to provide its “Gateway to Asia” service to four countries across the Asia-Pacific region as Amgen’s contract manufacturing organization (CMO).

An integral factor in Amgen’s business growth in Japan, Bushu Pharma has partnered with Amgen since 2016 to assure pharmaceutical drug product supply continuity and quality excellence for Amgen patients in Japan. Further reinforcing the value of this partnership, Amgen has awarded Bushu Pharma the expanded Gateway to Asia contract for supply to Amgen’s biggest markets, including mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea. The decision is expected to double the current volume of Amgen products being manufactured and packaged by Bushu Pharma — including Repatha, Evenity, Prolia, and Xgeva. The scope of the work under Bushu Pharma’s Gateway to Asia services will be to assemble, label, package and inspect the products for those markets, with the first supply of these drugs set to commence this year.

Tadao Takano, Chief Operational Officer and President at Bushu Pharma, said, “We are pleased to have built a strong partnership through successful launches of Amgen’s four (Repatha, Evenity, Blincyto, and Aimovig) innovative drugs in Japan and scaled production to match the growing patient needs. The new Gateway to Asia services will enable further effectiveness in importing bulk products to Japan for quality inspection, labeling, packaging and distribution throughout Japan and Asia-Pacific.”

In addition to this agreement with Amgen, Bushu Pharma has also recently established its Kazo Packaging Center and agreed on a business alliance with Suzuken Co., Ltd. through which the company will provide comprehensive support for new product launches for specialty pharmaceutical manufacturers looking to enter the Japanese market. Bushu Pharma’s Gateway to Asia service offers global manufacturers like Amgen the chance to efficiently enter and grow their sales in Japan and across the Asia-Pacific region.