Amgen Donates Medicine to Panda

Biotechnology giant Amgen has joined the fight to save Hsing-Hsing, a giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this month, the Thousand Oaks-based company donated medicine to help stabilize Hsing-Hsing, who is suffering kidney failure.

On May 15, the 28-year-old giant panda was diagnosed with a kidney disease and anemia, which may be irreversible.

Zoo officials called Amgen’s Washington, D.C., office and, consequently, the company sent $10,000 worth of erythropoietin (EPO), a genetically engineered protein that stimulates red blood cells to combat the anemia that accompanies kidney failure.

“Hsing-Hsing is a much beloved member of the National Zoo,” said Andrea Rothschild, Amgen spokeswoman. “We hope that it will help.”

Hsing-Hsing was brought to the United States when he was a year old, a 1972 present to President Richard Nixon from China.

“Hsing-Hsing has been receiving weekly injections of EPO,” said Mike Morgan, zoo spokesman. “It’s been effective for maintaining the red cell count.”

The medicine, which costs $1,000 for each injection, may be the panda’s only hope for survival, officials said.

Kidney dialysis is not an option because Hsing-Hsing would have to undergo anesthesia every day for several hours, a great risk considering his age and condition, officials said. A transplant is also not an option since giant pandas are considered endangered and kidneys aren’t available.