Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen continued its Colorado exit plans recently as it sold a Longmont, Colo., facility to London-based pharmaceutical and biotech company AstraZeneca for $64.5 million.

Amgen built the 692,000-square-foot facility in the 1990s to make ingredients for its blockbuster anti-anemia drug Epogen. The site used large vats to produce lines of cell cultures used in production.

AstraZeneca will also acquire 158 acres of Amgen-owned undeveloped ranchland adjacent to the property. Sale of the building and the land closed Oct. 7, according to the Denver Business Journal.

In September, AstraZeneca also bought a Boulder, Colo. facility from Amgen, which it is renovating to produce an experimental bladder cancer drug.

In 2014, Amgen announced plans to cut 2,400 jobs worldwide and shrink operations at its Thousand Oaks headquarters. Plans also called for Amgen to close all plants in Colorado and Washington. Savings of $700 million were expected by 2016, which Amgen will invest in new drug developments.

• Contact Philip Joens at pjoens@pacbiztimes.com.