2nd-Quarter Net Income Soars 266% for Amgen

Amgen Inc., a Thousand Oaks biotechnology company, said its net income soared 266% to $14.3 million in the second quarter that ended Sept. 30 from $3.9 million a year before. Amgen attributed the huge jump to sales of its drug for the treatment of chronic anemia in kidney dialysis patients. The drug, called Epogen, was approved for sale by the Food and Drug Administration in June, 1989. Amgen said its total revenues for the second quarter nearly doubled to $78.8 million, from $39.6 million last year.

For the first half of Amgen’s fiscal year, the company’s profit increased more than fivefold to $25.5 million, from $4.7 million a year ago. Amgen’s six months’ sales more than doubled to $150.5 million, from $68.1 million.