By Tess Stynes
Amgen Inc. said its first-quarter earnings rose 51% on broad
sales growth and lower operating expenses as the pharmaceutical
company benefited from previous streamlining activities.
Based on the better-than-expected results the Thousand Oaks,
Calif., company raised its 2015 earnings guidance.
Amgen now expects per-share earnings of $9.35 to $9.65 on
revenue of $20.9 billion to $21.3 billion, compared with its
previous estimate for $9.05 to $9.40 on revenue of $20.8 billion to
$21.3 billion.
The company also said it plans to file for regulatory approvals
in the U.S. and Europe for its AMG 416 treatment for secondary
hyperparathyroidism in the second half of 2015 and for Brodalumab
for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis midyear in 2015. Amgen also
said it plans to initiate this year a phase three study of its AMG
334 treatment for episodic migraine.
Investors also likely will be listening on the conference call
for any details regarding the anticipated introduction this year of
recently approved heart drug Corlanor and the expected approval of
evolocumab-- its investigational treatment to lower LDL or "bad"
cholesterol.
Investors also will be interested in any signals regarding
Amgen's strategy to defend its anemia and neutropenia drugs from
low-price biosimilar competition in the wake of the Food and Drug
Administration's recent approval of Novartis AG's biosimilar for
Amgen's Neupogen treatment for chemotherapy patients. The copycat
medicine, Zarxio, is the first approved under a new regulatory
framework designed to introduce competition for costly biotech
drugs, which are produced in living cells and typically
administered by infusion or injection.
Overall, Amgen reported a profit of $1.62 billion, or $2.11 a
share, up from $1.07 billion, or $1.40 a share, a year earlier.
Excluding acquisition-related charges and other items, per-share
earnings rose to $2.48 from $1.87. Revenue increased 11% to $5.03
billion. Foreign-exchange rates had a negative impact of two
percentage points. About 75% of Amgen sales are in the U.S.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of
$2.10 and revenue of $4.91 billion.
In the latest quarter, sales of multiple myeloma drug Kyprolis
surged 59% to $108 million on higher volume. Amgen gained the drug
with its $10.4 billion acquisition of Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. in
2013.
Combined sales of Neulasta and Neupogen, both of which are used
to prevent infections in patients receiving chemotherapy were flat
at $1.38 billion. Neulasta sales rose 4% to $1.13 billion, mostly
on higher prices, Neupogen sales decreased 15% to $246 million
mostly because of competition in the U.S.
Sales of Amgen's osteoporosis drugs grew thanks to higher
volume. Prolia revenue climbed 39% to $272 million, while XGeva
sales jumped 22% to $340 million.
Sales of arthritis drug Enbrelgrew 13% to $1.12 billion on
higher prices.
In the latest period, Amgen's total operating costs, excluding
items, declined nearly 3% from a year earlier, including a 14% drop
in research-and-development expenses.
During October, the company laid out streamlining plans aimed at
generating as much as $1.5 billion in annual cost savings by
2018.
The company has faced pressure from activist Dan Loeb, who has
urged Amgen to trim its research and development structure and
potentially break up, separating its mature business from
faster-growing operations, an idea proposed earlier by Sanford
Bernstein analyst Geoffrey Porges.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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