By Deena Beasley
Aug 3 (Reuters) – Amgen on Tuesday reported second-quarter sales rose 9%, driven by demand for cholesterol drug Repatha, bone drug Evenity and medications for rare diseases, as the company continues to develop experimental weight-loss drug MariTide.
The California-based biotech said it has discontinued development of a different obesity candidate known as AMG 513, which was in early-stage clinical testing.
Amgen’s second-quarter adjusted earnings rose 4% from a year earlier to $6.29 per share, handily beating analysts’ expectations of $5.62, according to LSEG data. The company’s net earnings per share increased 65% to $4.37.
Quarterly revenue rose 10% from a year earlier to $10.1 billion, surpassing the average Wall Street estimate of $9.42 billion.
Amgen raised its full-year outlook to adjusted earnings of $22.30 to $23.50 per share on revenue of $38.2 billion to $39.4 billion. It had previously projected 2026 earnings per share of $21.70 to $23.10 on revenue of $37.1 billion to $38.5 billion.
“We delivered continued momentum across our six key growth drivers, which grew 26% year over year and represent nearly 70% of second-quarter product sales,” CEO Robert Bradway said in a statement.
The growth products he referred to are Repatha, Evenity for osteoporosis, asthma treatment Tezpire, rare disease drugs, novel oncology treatments and biosimilars.
Quarterly sales of Repatha rose 37% to $953 million, beating analysts’ expectations of $916 million.
Repatha, a PCSK9 drug given monthly or every two weeks by injection, is facing new competition from Merck’s daily pill Lipfendra.
“We are very pleased with the momentum now on Repatha,” Murdo Gordon, Amgen’s head of global markets and policy, said in an interview. “The evidence that says that Repatha is effective in lowering the risk of first or second heart attacks is unrivaled.”
Sales of Evenity rose 38% to $714 million, ahead of analyst expectations of $645 million. Sales of older bone drug Prolia fell 32% to $759 million as patent expirations led to increased competition, but still beat analysts’ estimates of $720 million.
“Amgen is growing because we are serving more patients at lower unit prices,” Gordon said. “We would anticipate in the long range for that trend to continue.”
Sales of newer rare disease drug Uplizna increased 90% from a year ago to $335 million, while sales of Tavneos rose 36% to $150 million.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April proposed the withdrawal of Tavneos, which is approved to treat a rare autoimmune disease, citing a lack of proven effectiveness and concerns about integrity of trial data. Europe’s drug regulator has also recommended revoking that drug’s marketing authorization.
Amgen said it is engaging with the FDA, has requested a hearing and submitted materials to the agency that it believes show Tavneos has a favorable benefit-risk profile.
Initial results from Amgen’s broad group of Phase 3 MariTide trials are not expected until next year. The drug, which is an injection given as infrequently as four times a year, is being tested for treating obesity and related conditions, including heart disease and sleep apnea.
(Reporting By Deena BeasleyEditing by Bill Berkrot)
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