New York, March 3, 2026, 13:41 ET — Regular trading hours
Amgen Inc shares dropped $8.69, or 2.3%, to $377.01 as of 1:41 p.m. ET Tuesday, after Kyowa Kirin out of Japan pulled the plug on all current trials for its experimental drug rocatinlimab. The Japanese company had previously wrapped up its development and commercialization partnership with Amgen around rocatinlimab. 1
This decline is notable: pipeline news continues to steer sentiment for the major pharma names, which trade at safe-haven premiums. Safety-focused announcements, in particular, tend to hit harder.
Amgen wants investors looking ahead—highlighting its latest drugs and late-stage pipeline, while older cash cows face increased price pressure and generic rivals.
Kyowa Kirin flagged fresh safety worries in a planned update, pointing to new signals of malignancies—including another confirmed case and one additional suspected instance of Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare cancer. That adds to a previously reported case. The company said the trend could be tied to the drug’s mechanism. After assessing the data together, Kyowa Kirin and Amgen determined the risks may outweigh benefits for the patient groups studied. “This is deeply disappointing news, as we had hoped to bring a safe and effective treatment to patients,” said Abdul Mullick, president and chief operating officer at Kyowa Kirin. 2
Amgen lagged behind as the broader healthcare sector slipped. Both the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF dropped roughly 1.3%, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF off about 1%. Shares of Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Regeneron also traded in the red during the afternoon.
Amgen executives, speaking at the TD Cowen health care conference on Monday, described 2026 as a “disciplined data year” and pointed out that “Q1 is lighter for us relative to subsequent quarters”—a nod to the drag from U.S. insurance resets and steeper patient co-pays. They highlighted looming European generics for Otezla and signaled that Prolia and Xgeva could see quicker declines as biosimilar competition heats up. 3
But now investors face a choice: does Tuesday’s safety news remain an isolated issue, or does it spark fresh skepticism over immune targets in general? If the latter, expect a tougher road—delays, fresh queries, and waning appetite for the pipeline’s longer-term bets.
The tape isn’t doing healthcare any favors. Sometimes the sector acts like a defensive hideout, but lately it’s been yanked around with everything else, and that’s pushed some individual names further than headlines alone would justify.
Eyes are on fresh details for rocatinlimab after the ongoing review wraps up, plus Amgen’s quarterly numbers due near April 29. Pipeline updates and guidance are poised to outweigh whatever the broader market does in the short run. 4
