Amgen faces subpoenas from U.S. attorney’s offices, lawsuit

Amgen Inc. said it received two federal subpoenas in the last month seeking documents about its products.

One subpoena came from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York on Oct. 25, and the other from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington on Nov. 1, the Thousand Oaks-based company disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday. The filing doesn’t say which products are involved.

The filing also says the Sheet Metal Workers National Health Fund filed a lawsuit Nov. 2 in New Jersey alleging that Amgen’s pricing “penalizes oncology clinics” that purchase Johnson & Johnson’s anemia drug Procrit.

Amgen’s anemia treatments Aranesp and Epogen combined for $6.63 billion in sales last year, accounting for 46% of Amgen’s revenue.

Rebates on Amgen’s Neulasta and Neupogen, chemotherapy infection drugs that have a monopoly on the market, are available only to clinics that purchase large quantities of higher-priced Aranesp, according to the plaintiffs, who are seeking an injunction and triple damages.

Amgen hasn’t been served in the action, according to the filing. Company spokesman David Polk said he wasn’t able to comment beyond the regulatory filing.

“I don’t think that Amgen has done anything incorrect here,” said Eric Schmidt, an analyst with Cowen & Co. in New York. “They are open to litigation like this, and sometimes these companies have stepped over the lines and they are liable for fines, but those fines are typically very modest.”

Shares of the drug maker rose 22 cents to $54.50.