2 novembre 2005

Sal Ruibal

One of the biggest cycling stage races in the U.S. will be introduced Wednesday in San Francisco. The surprising title sponsor is Amgen Corp., maker of the blood-boosting drugs Epogen and Aranesp.

Those drugs are more commonly known as EPO and are among the most-abused doping agents in cycling and other endurance sports.

Amgen, of course, is not seeking to boost illegal use of its medicines, which are used by millions of cancer and kidney-disease patients around the world. The company legitimately sells more than $2 billion of those two prescription drugs every year and has been deeply involved in helping anti-doping agencies perfect testing procedures.

Amgen Scientific Director Steve Elliott says the company hopes to use the race to promote cancer awareness and the legal theraputic use of its products.

"We believe we have a responsibility to ensure that the medicines we develop are used properly," says Elliott, who invented Aranesp. "It is always disturbing to find out that an athlete would abuse a drug intended to save a person's life."

The drug has been in the news lately because Lance Armstrong is involved in a dispute over a urine test from the 1999 Tour de France that French newspaper L'Equipe reported tested positive for EPO. He has denied ever using any type of doping agent but was prescribed Epogen in 1996 as part of his treatment for testicular cancer.

Bob Colarossi, race director for the eight-stage February event, says he had no problem having Amgen as title sponsor : "They're doing it for all the right reasons."

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