Amgen’s Tavneos Discouraged by Japanese Partner After Deaths

Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., which sells Amgen Inc.’s drug Tavneos in Japan, is recommending that doctors stop prescribing it, adding to pressure on the company over a medicine that’s attracted scrutiny from health regulators worldwide.

Twenty people in Japan died after taking Tavneos, though it’s unclear whether the drug killed those people, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Kissei. Previously, the drug to treat a rare autoimmune disease had been tied to eight deaths, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.