Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Business	Business Amgen Inc. (including its subsidiaries, referred to as “Amgen,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is a global biotechnology pioneer that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative human therapeutics. We operate in one business segment: human therapeutics.
Basis of presentation	Basis of presentation The financial information for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, is unaudited but includes all adjustments (consisting of only normal, recurring adjustments unless otherwise indicated), which Amgen considers necessary for a fair presentation of its condensed consolidated results of operations for those periods. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for the full fiscal year. The condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022.
Principles of consolidation	Principles of consolidation The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Amgen as well as its majority-owned subsidiaries. In determining whether we are the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity, we consider whether we have both the power to direct activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to that entity. We do not have any significant interests in any variable interest entities of which we are the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of estimates	Use of estimates The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results may differ from those estimates.
Property, plant and equipment, net	Property, plant and equipment, net Property, plant and equipment is recorded at historical cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization, of $9.2 billion and $8.8 billion as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
Recent accounting pronouncements	Recent accounting pronouncements In March 2020, the FASB issued a new accounting standard to ease the financial reporting burdens caused by the expected market transition from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates, commonly referred to as reference rate reform. The new standard provides temporary optional expedients and exceptions to current GAAP guidance on contract modifications and hedge accounting. Specifically, a modification to transition to an alternative reference rate is treated as an event that does not require contract remeasurement or reassessment of a previous accounting treatment. Moreover, for all types of hedging relationships, an entity is permitted to change the reference rate without having to dedesignate the hedging relationship. The standard is generally effective for all contract modifications made and hedging relationships evaluated through December 31, 2022. In January 2021, the FASB issued a new accounting standard that expanded the scope of the original March 2020 standard to include derivative instruments on discounting transactions. We do not expect the two standards to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In November 2021, the FASB issued a new accounting standard around the recognition and measurement of contract assets and contract liabilities from revenue contracts with customers acquired in a business combination. The new standard clarifies that contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination from an acquiree should initially be recognized by applying revenue recognition principles and not at fair value. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning on January 1, 2023, and early adoption is permitted. The impact of this standard will depend on the facts and circumstances of future transactions.