Recession hits Amgen's first-quarter sales
The continued deterioration in the global economy led to a fall in net income for Amgen
The continued deterioration in the global economy led to a fall in net income of 8% to US$1.1bn in the first quarter of 2009 for Amgen compared with US$1.2bn in the first quarter of 2008. Total sales fell by 8% to $3.2bn from $3.5bn.
However, chairman and chief executive Kevin Sharer said the Californian company's future prospects remained strong.
"We have made progress on our plans to commercialise denosumab. Also, we are looking forward to reviewing important data on pipeline products including denosumab in certain oncology indications and Vectibix in colorectal cancer," he said.
Sales in the US were $2.5bn, a fall of 10%, while international sales dropped 2% to $736m.
Worldwide sales of Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) decreased 18% to $626m in the first quarter. In the US, the fall was 28% to $292m.
Sales of Epogen (Epoetin alfa) increased 2% to $565m, primarily due to an increase in demand.
Combined worldwide sales of Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) and Neupogen (Filgrastim) fell 1% to $1.1bn. Combined sales of these two drugs in the US were $796m compared with $792m in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 1%. Combined international sales decreased 6% to $277m in the first quarter.
Sales of Enbrel (etanercept) also fell - by 20% to $758m, driven primarily by unfavourable changes in wholesaler inventory and to a lesser extent a decline in demand.
Vectibix (panitumumab) sales for the first quarter were $53m. Sales growth for the first quarter was driven by international demand as a result of recent launches of Vectibix in Europe, partially offset by lower US demand.
Amgen's r&d expenses were $605m in the first quarter of 2009, a decrease of 8%. This fall was primarily driven by lower clinical trial costs for the denosumab registrational studies due to completion of enrolment, lower motesanib clinical trial costs associated with the delay of the non-small cell lung cancer trial (NSCLC), lower staff related costs, and increased partnership expense recoveries.
The company now expects total sales for 2009 to be between $14.4 to $14.8bn, a decrease from the previous range of $14.8 to $15.2bn.