Amgen income tops $1bn in Q1

Amgen, the discoverer, developer and deliverer of innovative human therapeutics, has announced strong performance for the first quarter of the year.

The company said that adjusted earnings per share increased to $0.91, a 26 per cent increase when compared with the first quarter of 2005. Adjusted net income also increased, up 19 per cent to $1.1 billion.

“We are off to a good start in 2006. We saw continued growth in our marketed products, and we completed our FDA submission for panitumumab in third-line metastatic colorectal cancer, bringing us another step closer to making this important medicine available to patients,” said Amgen chairman and chief executive officer Kevin Sharer.

“We also finalised our acquisition of Abgenix, which will allow us to fully realise the value of panitumumab as we develop this important cancer therapeutic for additional indications.”

Total revenue for the three-month period showed an increase of $400 million, rising 14 per cent when compared with the first quarter of 2005 to $3.2 billion.

Aranesp was arguably the star of the show for Amgen, clocking up worldwide sales of $893 million, a 24 per cent increase compared with Q1 in 2005.

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