AMGEN CONTINUES MONTH'S DOWNWARD SLIP.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

THOUSAND OAKS - Shares of biotechnology leader Amgen, already on a monthlong slide, dipped further Tuesday as nervous investors became wary of biotech stocks in general.

Overall, the Nasdaq Biotech Index plummeted 12 percent. Analysts and industry leaders said Wall Street overreacted Tuesday to news they said was a non-issue: The announcement Tuesday by President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of their joint commitment to keeping genetic codes in the public domain.

The U.S. and British governments are the leading players in the nonprofit Human Genome Project, which plans to publish a full genetic map of humans by 2003.

The human genome is a biological map laying out the exact sequence of the estimated 3.5 billion pairs of chemicals that make up the DNA in each human cell. Those chemicals are arranged in specific ways to create the estimated 80,000 to 100,000 human genes, which in turn carry the instructions for all the body's processes.

At issue is the fight over ways to patent, sell and profit from genetic information and developments.

Ironically, industry insiders say, Amgen and other biotech firms stand to benefit from the commitment to open access to the gene code.

``This is a balanced, pro-patent statement. How the markets could interpret it 180 degrees from what it actually said is pretty hard to understand,'' said Chuck Ludlam, vice president of government relations for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, an advocacy group for biotechnology companies.

Dennis Harp, biotechnology analyst for Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, said Tuesday's sell-off was unwarranted, particularly for Amgen, which fell $5.75 to close at $52.25.

``If anything, there was reference to support for gene-based inventions and, of course, many of Amgen's products are derived from gene- based engineering,'' Harp said. ``What's being proposed is that the raw sequence information be made available to the public. That in itself will stimulate demand for other companies. It will also help companies like Amgen.''

Also affecting Amgen's stock price Tuesday was the announcement by Amgen that it would increase its prices on Epogen without increasing its revenue projections.

But Amgen was not alone in losing market value on Tuesday. Nearly all biotech shares were down, led by Incyte Pharmaceuticals, which fell $53.50 to $143.50, and Human Genome Sciences, which fell $29, or 19 percent.

The chief challenger to the Human Genome Project is a private company called Celera Genomics Corp., which is also trying to map the genome, but more quickly and at a tenth the cost of the $2 billion publicly funded project.

The company has applied for thousands of patents on genes it has discovered.

``Exclusively funded by the capital put at risk by its investors, Celera unabashedly looks to reward those risks, advance science and ultimately better the human condition,'' said a Celera statement released Tuesday.

The U.S. Patent Office decided long ago that raw data about the sequence of human genes cannot be patented, and the fight has shifted to more complicated questions about how that information is used to predict, prevent or treat illness.

``They couldn't get one if they tried,'' Ludlam said.

CAPTION(S):

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Chart: AMGEN'S SLIDE

Shares of Thousand Oaks-based biotechnology drug maker Amgen Inc. have dipped in recent weeks.

SOURCE: Amgen Inc.