Amgen reports further growth in final quarter of 2011

Amgen has experienced a three percent year-over-year increase in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2011.

The firm's revenue for the three months came to $3.97 billion (2.52 billion pounds), bringing its total for the year to $15.6 billion, which was up by four percent compared to 2010.

Among the products to see significant increases in sales momentum were Xgeva and Prolia, while Neulasta, Neupogen and Enbrel also saw single-digit improvements in performance.

Amgen now expects to achieve a revenue total for 2012 of somewhere within the range of $16.1 billion to $16.5 billion.

These figures have been released in the same week that Amgen announced plans to acquire Micromet, a specialist developer of innovative cancer therapies.

Kevin Sharer, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen, said: "We exited 2011 with good momentum and the outlook for 2012 is even stronger. Our acquisition of Micromet … further builds our innovative oncology therapeutics pipeline and capabilities."