Amgen, NPS to Develop Thyroid Disease Drug : Pharmaceuticals: Norcalcin has a market potential of as much as $1 billion a year.

Amgen Inc., one of the world’s biggest biotechnology companies, and NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. said they will develop and market NPS’ thyroid disease drug, Norcalcin, in an agreement valued at $43.5 million.

Norcalcin has a market potential of several hundred million dollars to $1 billion a year and could be available commercially by 1998, said Salomon Bros. Inc. analyst Meirav Chovav, who rates Amgen a “strong buy.”

Meanwhile, Amgen Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration approved its best-selling drug, Neupogen, for use in patients undergoing a type of bone marrow replacement procedure. The medication speeds patient recovery.

The FDA has already approved Neupogen for other treatments, including prevention of serious, systemic infections in cancer patients who have had chemotherapy.

Amgen shares were up 62.5 cents at $58.875; NPS Pharmaceuticals was up $2.50 at $17, both on Nasdaq.

With the agreement, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen broadens its leadership in kidney medication with Norcalcin, which is used for a thyroid problem that affects 80% of dialysis patients.

“Norcalcin would strengthen Amgen’s existing commitment to the renal community in the U.S. and provide an opportunity to serve a new group of patients in most of the rest of the world,” said Amgen Chairman and Chief Executive Gordon Binder.

The drug, which is in clinical trials in the United States, also targets a thyroid disease called primary hyperparathyroidism, which affects 250,000 people in the United States.

Amgen said it will pay NPS Pharmaceuticals a $10-million licensing fee and milestone payments potentially totaling $26 million, plus product royalties. Amgen also said it will buy 1 million NPS shares for $7.5 million, representing a 12.5% stake in the Salt Lake City-based company. SmithKline Beecham Corp. already has a 22% stake in NPS, and they work together on a treatment for osteoporosis.

Amgen said it will take a fourth-quarter charge of $10 million, or 2 cents a share, to cover the licensing fee.

Amgen and NPS said they will work jointly on developing Norcalcin and that Amgen will pay all the research and marketing costs. After the transaction, NPS said, it will have about $25 million in cash.

NPS now has “cash resources to last several years,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Merrell said. In the most recent quarter, NPS spent $3.22 million on operating expenses.

The agreement gives Amgen exclusive worldwide rights--except in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan--to develop and sell Norcalcin, the companies said. NPS Pharmaceuticals already has a Norcalcin partnership in Asia with the pharmaceutical unit of Kirin Brewery Ltd.