AMGEN DRUG GETS REIMBURSEMENT HIKE.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Amgen Inc.'s anemia drug Aranesp will receive greater reimbursement in the hospital outpatient setting, leveling the playing field with rival Johnson & Johnson, the company said Friday.

Reimbursement for Aranesp will increase by 37 percent in 2004, after Amgen pleaded with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pick up more of the drug's cost. Reimbursement is poised to increase to $3.27 per microgram - with a dose of Aranesp equaling 200 micrograms - from this year's $2.37 per microgram.

Amgen claimed that Aranesp, which is dosed about every two weeks, should receive reimbursement that is more in line with Johnson & Johnson's Procrit, an anemia drug usually dosed once a week, said Michael Beckerich, spokesman for the Thousand Oaks-based company.

The hospital outpatient setting accounts for about 10 percent of Aranesp sales, which totaled $284 million in the third quarter of 2003, according to the company.

``This is a positive decision, but it's not quite what Amgen was hoping to do,'' said Jennifer Chao, analyst with RBC Capital Markets in New York. ``The reimbursement decision has more to do with creating a political equilibrium.''

Amgen and Johnson & Johnson are attempting to upstage each other in a battle for greater market share. Aranesp reimbursement in the hospital outpatient setting will rise to 65 percent of the wholesale price from 47 percent this year, while reimbursement of rival Johnson & Johnson's anemia drug Procrit rises to 74 percent from 68 percent.

Amgen shares advanced 65 cents to close at $61.76 Friday on the Nasdaq market.

Evan Pondel, [phone]

evan.pondel(at)dailynews.com