Exhibit 99.1
| One Amgen Center Drive | ||
| Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-1799 | ||
| Telephone (805) 447-4587 | ||
| News Release |
Fax (805) 499-3507 | |
| www.amgen.com |
AMGEN ANNOUNCES PROPOSALS TO
DECLASSIFY BOARD TO BE
PRESENTED AT 2007 ANNUAL MEETING AND
ADOPTS MAJORITY VOTE BYLAW
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Feb. 15, 2007 Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) announced today that its Board unanimously voted to approve corporate governance initiatives to declassify the Board of Directors and adopt a majority vote standard for the election of Directors in uncontested elections.
The Board unanimously voted to submit proposals to amend Amgens certificate of incorporation and bylaws to eliminate the declassification of the Board to stockholders at the 2007 annual meeting. If stockholders approve the proposals by the requisite vote, all directors would stand for election or re-election each year beginning at the Companys annual meeting held after the 2007 annual meeting.
Amgen also announced today that the Board unanimously voted to amend the Companys bylaws to adopt a majority vote standard for the election of directors, beginning with the next election in May 2007. Amgens amended bylaws require any incumbent nominee for Amgens Board who fails to receive a majority of the votes cast in an uncontested election to promptly tender his or her resignation to the Board. The Governance and Nominating Committee would then recommend to the Board whether to accept the resignation, and the Board would make a determination within 90 days after certification of the stockholder vote. The Boards decision and rationale for its decision then would be promptly disclosed publicly. The full text of Amgens amended bylaws is available on Amgens website at www.amgen.com under the InvestorsCorporate Governance tab.
About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new sciences promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses. With a deep and broad pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve peoples lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.
# # #
| CONTACT: | Amgen, Thousand Oaks | |
| David Polk, 805-447-4613 (Media) | ||
| Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (Investors) |