Amgen says he expects pandemic to limit sales until 2021

Aug. 3 (Reuters) – U.S. biotech Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) said on Tuesday its second-quarter revenue rose 5%, but the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited patient interactions with healthcare providers, is expected to affect sales for the remainder of 2021.

The pandemic “has suppressed the volume of new patients starting treatment,” the company said in a statement.

Amgen also said increased competition, especially from cheaper generics and biosimilars, will continue to put pressure on its net selling prices, especially for its cholesterol, psoriasis and infection drugs.

In addition, the company said it is challenging in the United States Tax Court the Internal Revenue Service’s advice to increase its taxable income for the previous three years by an amount that would result in additional federal tax of about $ 3.6 billion, plus interest.

The dispute, which will take several years to resolve, concerns Amgen’s profit accounting between the United States and Puerto Rico, the location of most of its manufacturing operations, CFO Peter Griffith told a conference telephone with investors.

Amgen’s quarterly adjusted earnings, helped by share buybacks, increased 4% year-over-year to $ 4.38 per share, beating $ 4.10 forecast by Wall Street analysts , calculated by Refinitiv.

The results “seem generally straightforward,” but the commentary on the pandemic “will dampen the enthusiasm,” Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in an emailed comment.

Amgen shares, which rose 1.8% to close at $ 244.08, were trading lower at $ 242 after-hours.

Revenue of $ 6.5 billion was in line with analyst estimates, as an 8% increase in unit sales volumes was partially offset by a 5% decline in net selling prices.

For the full year, Amgen said it still expects adjusted earnings of $ 16.00 to $ 17.00 per share on revenues of $ 25.8 billion to $ 26.6 billion. .

But the company has lowered its estimate of net income for 2021 to $ 8.84 to $ 9.90 per share from its earlier estimate of $ 9.11 to $ 10.71, and share buybacks will fall within. the top of its previous estimate of $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion.

“This will raise the eyebrows a bit since they generally increase the forecast for the second half of the year,” Yee said.

Sales of the new migraine drug Aimovig fell 16% from a year earlier to $ 82 million, below the $ 95 million forecast by analysts. Sales of cholesterol fighter Repatha rose 43% to $ 286 million, but they also missed Wall Street estimates of $ 299 million.

Amgen also on Tuesday announced plans to build a new drug manufacturing plant in Holly Springs, North Carolina.

Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Dan Grebler

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