In the late 1980s a genetically engineered drug created for people suffering from kidney failure became a substance abused by athletes seeking enhanced stamina and performance. The drug is recombinant erythropoietin, known as EPO, which was developed by the Amgen company.
If true, that is hilarious.
I got that off Wikepedia and I’m thinking they are a pretty good source…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling - Right after 1988
I want to believe it because it’s funny, but I’m a trial lawyer, and if I ever cited Wikipedia to a court I’d get laughed out of the room. That said, I’ve yet to hear personally of any instance in which Wiki’s been wrong on some issue of import, at least through one of its editing rounds.
You didn’t know that? Too funny. Amgen actually got heavily involved in cycling BECAUSE of the EPO abuse. Amgen has been one of the - if not the single - biggest drivers of testing protocols for EPO. Amgen is involved in cycling because they want to clean it up. I think maybe they feel some responsibility - though they shouldn’t - for the abuse of EPO. They are a great company and many employees are pretty passionate cyclists. But they’ve been involved for a long time, and while it is ironic in many ways, I know the folks at Amgen (SaltStick founder Jonathon Toker was a biochemist for Amgen) are upset that their product - which was designed to help people who REALLY needed it - is being used to cheat.
You didn’t know that? Too funny. Amgen actually got heavily involved in cycling BECAUSE of the EPO abuse. Amgen has been one of the - if not the single - biggest drivers of testing protocols for EPO. Amgen is involved in cycling because they want to clean it up.
This is beyond funny. If they were interested in helping the fight against doping, they could put a marker in their EPO formula so that it was easily detectable. This is what WADA wanted before they came up with the test for EPO, and Amgen always refused. EPO for doping is a significant share of Amgen’s profits and they’re not about to lose an important market.
Wow, and they still can’t catch all these guys! That’s funny. So why can’t you believe that I didn’t know that?
I wonder if Amgen also sells them Coumadin to help with the blood clotting issue. They could sell it as a package deal.
All the EPO purchased last year by cyclists wouldn’t amount to 1% of AMGEN profits in 2009
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1%? And your source is? I didn’t say they make most of their money out of doping EPO. it seems this is how they make most of their money
http://businessnewstrends.com/amgen-faces-lawsuit-fraudulent-practices/597
It’s a standard medical company! They don’t care, they just act like they do. It’s like the drug companies and pain killers. They are the new drug dealers in America now. There are more deaths by overdose of prescription drugs now than any other drugs yet they are still handed out like candy at the hospitals and doctors offices. I really don’t think Amgen cares as much as they pretend to.
“The Thousand Oaks, Calif., company says profit rose to $931 million, or 92 cents per share, from $925 million.”
I have no comment on their selling practice but I doubt cyclists and other epo abusers amount to more than $10million in sales. And that includes all the epo Floyd admitted to using!
And some possible donations by some well known cyclists…
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Here’s some light reading:
http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/Donati_Report_Trafficking_2007-03_06.pdf
"4. Based on the average percentage estimated at 0.7%, doping substances seized in the different countries
would correspond to the following amounts:
- For EPO and GH: (100,000 + 100,000) x 100/0.7 = approximately 34 million phials; corresponding to the
“requirements” of almost two million people per year (calculating an average of 17 phials/year per person);
- Also hypothesising that the 1.5 million testosterone users and the million GH users are all already included
in the group of 15 million or so anabolic steroid users, that users of EPO alone amount to 500,000, whilst the
remaining users are already included in the figure of 15 million anabolic steroid users…"
I don’t think a drug company that produces a product for cancer, heart disease and anemia from kidney disease really needs to put some “detecting” agent in it for athletes who abuse it.
Amgen was who it was orginally licensed to, but they are not the sole producer, or even close, so that idea is not feasible anyway.
Retards
Seriously, it’s taking you this long to figure out that Amgen is the original EPO–sheesh. I thought this population was more sophisticated than that.
Just as long as we’re willing to separate the peeps in charge of the company from those peeps in charge of making new drugs, I’m okay. I work with a lot of the next-generation drug developers, and most all of their hearts are in the right place. Please don’t throw them under the bus as well. Thanks 
I don’t think a drug company that produces a product for cancer, heart disease and anemia from kidney disease really needs to put some “detecting” agent in it for athletes who abuse it.
Amgen was who it was orginally licensed to, but they are not the sole producer, or even close, so that idea is not feasible anyway.
Retards
Nevermind the rigor (okay… expense) of FDA trials and how reluctant any manufacturer is to put anything outside of what’s absolutely necessary in the drug.
I don’t think a drug company that produces a product for cancer, heart disease and anemia from kidney disease really needs to put some “detecting” agent in it for athletes who abuse it.
Amgen was who it was orginally licensed to, but they are not the sole producer, or even close, so that idea is not feasible anyway.
Retards
No,no,no, Amgen is the only EPO producer and refuse to put markers in it, thus they are the cause of the worlds problems…Paulo said so!
You didn’t know that? Too funny. Amgen actually got heavily involved in cycling BECAUSE of the EPO abuse. Amgen has been one of the - if not the single - biggest drivers of testing protocols for EPO. Amgen is involved in cycling because they want to clean it up.
This is beyond funny. If they were interested in helping the fight against doping, they could put a marker in their EPO formula so that it was easily detectable. This is what WADA wanted before they came up with the test for EPO, and Amgen always refused. EPO for doping is a significant share of Amgen’s profits and they’re not about to lose an important market.
That sounds a lot simpler that it really is. To incorporate such a marker would probably require Amgen to completely redo all the FDA certification for the drug!! Think MILLIONS in re-testing the safety of the drug!!
Also I believe it was not Amgen that refused to put in a marker, but rather it was Roche that refused to put the marker in CERA (a drug similar to EPO).
bingo…any modification in product or process and its back through the FDA trial process. This is laughable to think that Amgen should feel responsible to do such a thing.