By Marissa Nall Tuesday, July 28th, 2020

Amgen’s revenues climbed 6 percent in the second quarter, to $6.2 billion, despite the COVID-19 pandemic limiting hospital and physician operations and putting a hitch in diagnosis and treatment for many patients.

Amgen’s earnings, announced July 28, met average analyst estimates. However, a 17 percent overall decline in net income for the Thousand Oaks biotech giant sent shares down 1.7 percent in after-hours trading.

The decline was largely related to costs from Amgen’s November cash purchase of rheumatoid arthritis treatment Otezla, Amgen said, as well as the first net losses from its stake in Chinese oncology research firm BeiGene since the January deal closed. 

Otezla sales rose 14 percent in the quarter compared to the same period in 2019, to $561 million and topping $1 billion for the first half of 2020. 

Overall sales fell sharply early in the second quarter before seeing some recovery under new virtual outreach strategies, the company said. Net income fell to $1.8 billion, or around $3.05 per share. 

The company’s newest growth drug, cholesterol treatment Repatha, rose 32 percent compared to last year’s second quarter. Blincyto and Amgevita, two new products from its BiTE and biosimilar portfolios, gained 19 percent apiece, and migraine treatment Aimovig rose 18 percent to nearly $100 million in sales. 

But major losses persisted for some of Amgen’s former standouts, including declines of more than 30 percent for drugs like Neupogen and Sensipar, which have seen encroachment from generics and biosimilar competitors. Oncology drug Neulasta and anemia treatment Epogen each fell 28 percent, while sales of its top product, rheumatoid arthritis treatment Enbrel, eroded another 9 percent to around $1.25 billion during the quarter. 

Amgen maintained its revenue forecast for the full year, saying it expects revenue between $25 billion and $25.6 billion. It narrowed its earnings guidance slightly, saying it expects to earn between $10.73 and $11.43 per share in 2020.