N.Y. subpoenas Amgen sales, marketing data

Amgen Inc., the world’s largest biotech company by sales, said Tuesday that it had received a subpoena from the New York state attorney general, who is seeking documents related to its sales and marketing activities.

Amgen said it received the subpoena May 10, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in which it also said it intended to cooperate with the attorney general.

The day of the subpoena, Amgen was dealt a setback by an advisory panel of cancer experts for the Food and Drug Administration. The group recommended that new restrictions be placed on prescribing Amgen’s top-selling anemia treatments, Aranesp and Epogen, after studies showed that high doses of the drugs could raise the risks of heart attack, stroke and death.

A week later, Medicare said it would stop paying for the drugs for a number of unapproved uses. The new restrictions on the drugs could cause sales of Amgen’s anemia drugs to drop by a fifth this year, analysts have said.

Amgen shares fell 22 cents Tuesday to $53.96.