Amgen Inc. (AMGN) said Monday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit rose 40% from last year, as lower costs and a tax benefit more than offset a small revenue decline. The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also breezed past Wall Street expectations. At the same time, the company raised its earnings outlook for the full year 2009.
The world's largest biotechnology company reported GAAP net income for the second quarter of $1.27 billion or $1.25 per share, compared to $906 million or $0.84 per share for the year-ago quarter.
The latest quarter results were positively impacted by a $115 million income tax benefit as a result of resolving certain non-routine transfer pricing issues with the Internal Revenue Service.
Excluding stock option expense, acquisitions related expenses, restructuring charges, the income tax benefit as a result of resolving certain non-routine transfer pricing issues with the Internal Revenue Service, loss accruals for settlements of certain commercial legal proceedings and certain other items, adjusted net income for the second quarter was $1.31 billion or $1.29 per share, compared to $1.24 billion or $1.14 per share in the prior year quarter.
On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $1.16 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total revenue for the second quarter fell 1% to $3.71 billion from $3.76 billion in the same quarter last year. Nineteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.58 billion for the second quarter.
Total product sales for the quarter fell 2% to $3.63 billion from $3.69 billion a year ago. U.S. product sales declined to $2.83 billion from $2.84 billion in the second quarter of last year, while international sales decreased 6% to $801 million from $849 million in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, total product sales increased 1% and international product sales increased 6%.
Worldwide sales of Aranesp, which is prescribed for the treatment of anemia in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, declined 16% to $693 million in the second quarter from $825 million a year earlier. U.S. Aranesp sales dropped 21% to $338 million in the second quarter, while international Aranesp sales fell 11% to $355 million.
Second quarter sales of Epogen, an older anemia drug for patients with chronic kidney disease, grew 3% to $638 million from $622 million a year earlier, due to higher demand.
Combined worldwide sales of Neupogen, an erythropoietin and a white blood cell booster to treat a side effect of chemotherapy, and Neulasta, a long lasting version of Neupogen, decreased 4% to $1.16 billion in the second quarter from $1.20 billion in the second quarter of last year.
Second quarter sales of rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel increased 7% to $899 million from $841 million last year, driven mainly by favorable changes in wholesaler inventories and higher demand.
Worldwide sales of Sensipar, which is indicated for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis and the treatment of hypercalcemia in patients with parathyroid carcinoma, increased 11% to $167 million in the second quarter, mainly due to increased demand.
In the recent past, sales of the company's anemia drug Aranesp have been falling, due to safety concerns and warnings.
Now, the company is pinning its hope on its experimental osteoporosis drug denosumab, which is expected to be its next major blockbuster drug.
Earlier this month, Amgen said its late-stage trial evaluating denosumab demonstrated superior efficacy compared to Zometa in the treatment of bone metastases in patients with advanced breast cancer. The trial also met its primary and secondary endpoints, related to comparison with Zometa.
The FDA is reviewing denosumab as a possible treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and bone loss caused by hormone treatment in patients with either prostate or breast cancer. The regulatory decision is expected in October and denosumab is widely expected to gain approval with successful data from 11,000 patients.
An additional approval for helping advanced cancer patients could push up denosumab's annual sales potential by an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion, analysts say. Full details from the 2,049-patient study will not be available until the second half of this year.
Separately, Amgen said Monday it has entered into a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) in which the companies will share commercialization of denosumab for postmenopausal osteoporosis in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico once the product is approved in those countries. Amgen will commercialize the drug for postmenopausal osteoporosis and oncology in the United States and Canada and for all oncology indications in Europe and specified markets.
Under the deal, Amgen will receive an initial payment and near-term commercial milestone payments totaling $120 million, and receive ongoing royalties.
For the first six months of the year, the company reported GAAP net income of $2.29 billion or $2.23 per share, compared to $2.01 billion or $1.85 per share for the same period last year.
Adjusted net income for the first-half was $2.43 billion or $2.37 per share, compared to $2.45 billion or $2.26 per share in the prior year period.
Revenue for the first-half fell to $7.02 billion from $7.38 billion in the corresponding year-ago period.
Looking forward, the company raised its full year adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $4.80 to $4.95 per share from its prior guidance of $4.55 to $4.75 per share.
The company also said revenue for 2009 was trending towards the upper end of its guidance range of $14.4 to $14.8 billion.
Analysts currently expect the company to earn $4.57 per share on revenue of $14.33 billion for the full year 2009.
Amgen shares, which have trade in a range of $44.96 to $66.51 over the past year, closed Monday's regular trading session at $60.77, down 15 cents. The stock is currently gaining $2.04 or 3.36% in after hours trading.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.