Amgen Stock Hits High Amid Hopes for Drug

Amgen Inc.’s shares rose 8.5% Tuesday to a record high amid hopes an experimental anemia drug will boost sales and profits of the world’s biggest biotechnology company.

Amgen’s shares rose $4.50 to close at $57.69 on Nasdaq, bringing the Thousand Oaks-based company’s market value to $59 billion. It was the stock’s biggest one-day percentage gain in five months.

Salomon Smith Barney analyst Meirav Chovav said she believes Amgen has filed applications with U.S. and European regulators for approval of a treatment dubbed NESP, an extended-release version of its blockbuster anemia treatment Epogen. That’s ahead of the company’s goal of filing in the first quarter of next year, she said.

“I think this is going to be Amgen’s biggest product ever,” Chovav said.

Amgen officials declined to comment, saying that they may comment on the issue in January when the company reports fourth-quarter earnings.

Analysts have forecast that NESP could bring Amgen annual sales of more than $2 billion. Amgen controls full rights to NESP in the U.S. and Europe, unlike Epogen, which it licensed to Johnson & Johnson for most uses.

Chovav, who has a “buy” recommendation on Amgen, raised her price target for the biotechnology company’s shares to $70 from $56 in a note issued today.

NESP’s approval, which could take about a year, will boost Amgen’s earnings to a higher-than-forecast $1.40 a share in 2001, Chovav said.

The company is expected to report earnings of 97 cents this year and $1.09 in 2000, the average forecasts of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.

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Biotech Flagship

Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, has helped lead that stock sector sharply higher this year. Monthly closes and latest on Nasdaq:

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Tuesday:

$57.69, up $4.50

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Source: Bloomberg News