Amgen chief tells Trump the biotech giant will hire 1,600 workers
Amgen Chief Executive Robert Bradway told President Trump on Tuesday that the company would soon be adding 1,600 jobs.
The news of hiring by the Southern California biotech giant came as the president met with a group of pharmaceutical executives at the White House, where he told them their pricing “has been astronomical.”
“You folks have done a very great job over the years,” Trump told the executives, “but we have to get the prices down.”
Kristen Davis, an Amgen spokeswoman, confirmed that the Thousand Oaks company plans to hire 1,600 skilled workers across the U.S. this year.
“This includes both workers who will bring new skills to Amgen, as well as those required to address attrition and other needs,” she said. “We look forward to working collaboratively with the new administration.”
In 2014, Amgen said it was eliminating as many as 4,000 jobs, or about 20% of its global workforce.
The stock of many pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, had slumped in January after Trump said at a news conference that they were “getting away with murder” by repeatedly raising their prescription drug prices.
Amgen shares rose after the meeting, closing Wednesday at $159.67, up nearly 2% for the day.
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UPDATES:
1:20 p.m., Feb. 1: This article has been updated with Amgen’s Wednesday closing stock price.
The article was originally published on Jan. 31 at 6:50 p.m.
