GIANT AMGEN GROWING.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Biotechnology leader Amgen Inc., maxed out at its 130-acre headquarters, announced a billion-dollar worldwide expansion of its international research facilities on Tuesday.

The biggest part of this international largess will go to Cork, Ireland, where a new 1,100-worker campus will develop, manufacture and fulfill orders for the world's largest biotech company's European operations. Amgen will also beef up facilities at its San Francisco, Seattle and Cambridge, Mass., locations. In the United Kingdom, the company will upgrade its center for research and development at Cambridge, England, and build a new one in Uxbridge, England.

To bolster operations at its sites, Amgen plans to add 1,000 employees to its current worldwide work force of more than 14,000.

``The objective here is straight growth,'' said Fabrizio Bonanni, senior vice president of manufacturing. ``In our industry, that means new products approaching the end of the pipeline that'll help people with serious diseases. If they're approved, it'll make a world of difference for people who are very sick. This is confirmation that we believe in the pipeline and that these drugs will be a reality.''

Amgen expects to break ground on the Ireland facility later this year and to have it open by 2009. Except for a few senior management positions, jobs will be filled with applicants prepared in the country's strong educational system and current biotech industry.

In addition to the Irish and English growth, the company announced Tuesday that it has relocated its European headquarters from Lucerne to Zug, Switzerland, and formed a subsidiary, Amgen International, to target additional markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

``It's also important strategically, in terms of how they're viewed as a leading biotech company,'' Shiv Kapoor, principal and senior research analyst for Montgomery & Co., LLC, in San Francisco. ``Genentech has been doing a lot of upgrading on their manufacturing in the last few years, so they boast that they've got the largest capacity in the world. The question is: Will Amgen be left behind if it does not do this? It's a very good strategic move to spend at least what your competitors are spending.''

Amgen, which will issue its fourth-quarter and full-year reports on Thursday, saw its shares inch up 4 cents, or .05 percent, to close at $74.94 on Tuesday.

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com