Amgen Company

Biotech giant Amgen Inc. said Wednesday that it was cutting 2,200 to 2,600 jobs as part of a sweeping plan to save more than $1 billion over the next year in an unprecedented biotech industry retrenchment.

In Thousand Oaks, Amgen Inc. rules. It's the biggest private employer in town. Its 8,300 local employees, known as "Amgenites," make an estimated average annual salary of $162,000. Its sleek corporate headquarters with sweeping views of the Santa Monica Mountains looks more like a college campus, and frequent late-afternoon "fermentation parties" offer free beer for all.

Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen Inc. continued to get battered Wednesday by investors who appear to have growing doubts about the company's revenue outlook and its plans for growth. Its stock -- now at its lowest level in more than four years -- has come under renewed pressure this week in light of a decision Monday by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it is sharply limiting reimbursements for Amgen's top-selling anemia drug Aranesp.

Beleaguered biotech giant Amgen Inc. on Thursday reported a surprisingly steep drop in sales of its main anemia product line, raising doubts about the company's growth prospects. But the Thousand Oaks-based firm's profit remained substantial on stronger-than-expected sales of other products. Revenue increased 3% during the second quarter to $3.7 billion, versus $3.6 billion last year. Profit rose 2% to $1.3 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2006.

The U.S. Medicare health insurance program said Friday that it would reduce payments for anemia drugs when used to treat elderly and disabled patients undergoing kidney dialysis. Drugs known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, or ESAs, are sold by Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. as Epogen and Aranesp and by Johnson & Johnson as Procrit to treat anemia.

Medicare needs to change the way it pays for anemia drugs to discourage excessive use in kidney dialysis patients, a key lawmaker said Tuesday. The federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled spends about $2 billion annually on Amgen Inc.'s Epogen, part of a class of anti-anemia drugs called erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs). Critics say current payment methods have promoted aggressive treatment.

A House committee asked for documents related to the advertising of anemia drugs made by Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. and Johnson & Johnson as part of an investigation into the ability of U.S. regulators to protect consumers from dangerous medications. Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the Health and Human Services Department for records on the marketing of the drugs, Amgen's Aranesp and J&J's Procrit.

New warnings were slapped on two of the nation's most popular diabetes drugs Wednesday as Thousand Oaks biotech giant Amgen Inc. jumped into the booming market. The biotech giant agreed to buy Massachusetts-based Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million in cash. The closely held company does not yet have a drug on the market but is known for drugs under development to treat diabetes and other diseases.

A buying spree may be underway at troubled Southern California biotech giant Amgen Inc. After a difficult year during which sales of its key products fell in light of safety concerns, the company Monday acquired a privately held California company for $420 million in cash. Ilypsa Inc. of Santa Clara doesn't yet have any drugs on the market, but its major candidate has shown promise in chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis, a growing and lucrative market.

An updated analysis of data from studies of anemia drugs used with cancer treatments showed that they increased risk of death and blood clots, an industry newsletter reported Friday. The findings showed that use of the drugs, which include Amgen Inc.'s Aranesp and Epogen as well as Johnson & Johnson's Procrit, increased risk of death 11% and risk of blood clot 59% when compared with oncology patients who did not use the drugs, according to the Cancer Letter.