1.

You refer to a license agreement with Johnson and Johnson (J&J) under which you have granted J&J a license to commercialize recombinant human erythropoietin as a human therapeutic in the United States in all markets other than dialysis. We note that, under the agreement, all recombinant human erythropoietin sold by J&J in the US is manufactured by you and sold by J&J under the trademark PROCRIT^®. We note your disclosure that you earn a ten percent royalty on net sales of PROCRIT by J&J in the US. Please amend your disclosure to describe the material terms of this license agreement, including the duration, termination provisions and aggregate royalty amounts received to date, if material. Item 601(b)(10)

of Regulation S-K requires you to include material contracts as exhibits to your Form 10-K. Please include this license agreement as an exhibit to the Form 10-K or provide us with an analysis supporting your determination that this agreement is not material to your business.

The full form of the Company’s license agreement with J&J is incorporated by reference into the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 (the “Form 10-K”) under Exhibit 10.28. The party to the agreement with Amgen is Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation, a subsidiary of J&J. The Company refers in its filings to J&J and its subsidiaries, collectively, as J&J;

The disclosure concerning the material terms of the license agreement is set forth on pages 10, 18, 29, 31, 75 and F-11 of the Form 10-K; and

The royalty amounts the Company records pursuant to the license agreement have not been material in any annual or quarterly period covered by the Form 10-K to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations (including revenue, operating income and net income) or to liquidity. Our counsel, Latham & Watkins LLP, concurs with the Company’s position.

The Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures in the filing;

Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to Staff comments do not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and

The Company may not assert Staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States.