AMGEN INCOME BEATS FORECAST.

Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

Biotechnology drug developer Amgen Inc. has reported a 23 percent gain, stronger than expected, in third-quarter earnings, driven by sales of the popular anti-anemia drug Epogen.

In a report issued Tuesday for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, Amgen announced net income of $221 million, or 87 cents per share, on sales of $700.9 million. The results beat the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp., who expected Amgen to earn just 79 cents a share.

Amgen's performance was also well ahead of its numbers from the 1997 third quarter, when the company reported income of $83.8 million, or 31 cents per share, on sales of $598.3 million. That included a one-time charge of 35 cents per share stemming from a lawsuit by Ortho Pharmaceuticals.

Sales of Epogen, the company's most profitable product, paced Amgen's recent strong performance. The Thousand Oaks company sold $350 million worth of the anti-anemia drug in July, August and September, a 23 percent gain over the same period last year.

Amgen benefited from Medicare's loosening of reimbursement guidelines for use of the drug in dialysis patients. Medicare last year restricted payment for the drug to patients whose red blood cell counts fell below a certain level in a 30-day period, but reversed itself after intense lobbying by Amgen. Medicare is the single biggest purchaser of Epogen.

``Never underestimate the power of a politically savvy management,'' said analyst Charles Engelberg at San Francisco-based AmeriCal Securities. ``They've done all the right things.''

Amgen also announced Tuesday that its board of directors has approved the repurchase of $1 billion worth of Amgen stock, a move that typically puts upward pressure on an issue's price. The company recently completed a buyback of similar size that it began in October 1997.