Denmark is seeking damages from US drug manufacturer Amgen after the company withdrew a cholesterol drug from the market. The dispute between Amgen and Amgros, the public Danish clinical medicines provider, has been unfolding since the pharmaceutical company decided in mid-February to stop supplying Denmark with the cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha.

The drug has been Danish doctors’ first-line option for hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol), a condition in which you have abnormally high levels of lipids (fats), such as cholesterol or triglycerides, in your blood, increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke, among others.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 Danish patients were estimated to be treated with the drug at the time it was withdrawn from the market. They now receive either more expensive alternatives or the same medicine through parallel imports.

The Danish claim

According to an email seen by Euractiv, the delivery contract runs until summer 2027, with an option for Amgros to prolong it for an additional year. Amgros considers the withdrawal a breach of contract and holds the company liable for the hospital pharmacies’ extra costs. It demands compensation of millions of euros, which, according to the Danish news media MedWatch, which first disclosed the news, could reach at least €10.5 million (DDK 81 million).

When asked by Euractiv, Amgros couldn’t confirm the figure, as the total cost depends on the additional costs incurred by Danish hospital pharmacies. “As the compensation is calculated quarterly, we are unable to provide the total compensation amount at this stage,” Rasmus Syberg Hazelton, a team leader for analysis and management at Amgros, told Euractiv.

He also said that, on 25 June, Amgros sent its first invoice to Amgen for Q1 2026, amounting to more than €675,000 (DKK 5.18 million), noting that Repatha had been on backorder since 16 February.

Syberg Hazelton also confirms that the invoiced amount reflects only a half-quarter. A full quarter penalty could therefore amount to double that sum, or approximately €1.3 million (DDK 10.3 million) per quarter.

This means that, for the final two quarters of 2026 and the first two quarters of 2027, when the contract expires, the total penalty claim could exceed €8 million for Amgen.

MedWatch also reported that, before taking the drug off the Danish market, Amgen was negotiating for a higher price.

Amgen cites US pricing policy

Amgen is rejecting Amgros’ claim, citing the US’s Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) policy and Trump’s administration’s threat of increased tariffs. The MFN policy aims to tie the prices the US pays for certain prescription medicines to the lowest prices paid by comparable developed countries, such as Denmark.

According to the correspondence, Amgen argues that the MFN policy has fundamentally changed market conditions, and as a result, “the contract has ceased to apply”, as the company’s lawyer wrote in an email to Amgros.

Neither party wants to comment on the dispute or on next steps when asked by Euractiv. However, Tore von Würden, Amgen’s Country Senior Director in Denmark, Norway and Iceland, did argue that “the global pricing environment has fundamentally changed.”

“This is therefore not only a case about Amgen and Repatha, but also about how Denmark and Amgros adapt to a changing global context, continue to value innovation, and put the right incentives in place to ensure long-term patient access,” he told Euractiv.

Thomas Senderovitz, the CEO of LIF, the association for research-based pharmaceutical companies, also refrained from commenting on the dispute but noted that the American pricing policy has changed “the game for the industry.”

“Increased uncertainty about future price levels makes companies more cautious in how they prioritise markets and investments. Countries and authorities must take this situation seriously,” he told Euractiv.

[VA, BM]