By Deena Beasley
(Reuters) - Amgen Inc <AMGN.O> on Tuesday said competition for older off-patent drugs sent third-quarter revenue down 3%, but share repurchases and biosimilar sales helped it achieve higher-than-expected profit, and the company raised its full-year outlook.
The California based biotechnology company posted adjusted earnings per share of $3.66, beating the average analyst estimate of $3.53 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. The number of Amgen shares outstanding dropped 7% from a year earlier.
Net profit for the quarter rose 14% to $3.27 per share from $2.86 per share a year ago.
Total revenue declined to $5.74 billion (£4.46 billion) from $5.9 billion a year ago, which was slightly better than analysts’ estimates of $5.64 billion.
Sales of new migraine drug Aimovig totalled $66 million for the quarter, well short of the $94.5 million projected by analysts, while sales of cholesterol fighter Repatha rose 40% to $168 million. That was still shy of Wall Street estimates of $170.3 million.
Sales of Neulasta, which fights infections by boosting white blood cells, fell 32% to $711 million, while sales of kidney drug Sensipar plunged 73% to $109 million in the face of increased competition from cheaper generics and biosimilars.
Amgen, which has its own biosimilar versions of rival company drugs, said its biosimilar sales rose to $173 million, up from $82 million in the previous quarter.
Amgen said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $14.20 to $14.45 per share on revenue of $22.8 billion to $23 billion. It had previously forecast $13.75 to $14.30 per share on revenue of $22.4 billion to $22.9 billion.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
