In 1983, Amgen scientists, led by by Fu-Kuen Lin, isolated the gene that creates EPO and filed a patent. Pioneering studies on erythropoietin were done by Dr. Joseph Eschbach and Dr. John Adamson at the University of Washington, and they found it could stimulate growth of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in sheep and correct anemia caused by kidney failure.

The first rHuEPO, epoetin alfa, was manufactured by Amgen and sold as Epogen^® in the US for dialysis patients (in 1989). In 1985, Amgen transferred rights for all non-dialysis indications in the US and all indications outside the US (excluding Japan) to Johnson & Johnson, and its affiliate Ortho-Biotech, in a long-standing licensing agreement.