AMGEN STOCK TUMBLES; COMPANY PROJECTED DIP IN PROFITS.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer Shares of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. took a beating Tuesday amid fears that new Medicare rules will hurt sales of one of the company's two main drugs. Traders sent Amgen shares down $6.93, to $50.19, after company officials announced that growth in sales of the drug Epogen will be less in the second half of 1997 than during the first six months of the year. Yet even Tuesday's 12 percent drop in share price, which brought the stock to a new 52-week low, may not be the end of an Amgen sell-off, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Kellie Seringer, an analyst at Montgomery Securities in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . ``A lot of people have questions about what's going to happen with Epogen,'' she said. Amgen had warned investors earlier this year that lower reimbursements from Medicare would slow sales of Epogen, which is used to treat anemia anemia (ənē`mēə), condition in which the concentration of hemoglobin in the circulating blood is below normal. Such a condition is caused by a deficient number of erythrocytes (red blood cells), an abnormally low level of hemoglobin in people with kidney disease Kidney Disease Definition Kidney disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the kidney. Kidney disease is also called renal disease. . Investors appear concerned that Amgen does not have enough other drug products in development to offset slowing sales of Epogen and of its only other product, Neupogen. Epogen accounted for $1.07 billion of Amgen's $2.24 billion in 1996 sales, while Neupogen had sales of about $1 billion. The federal Health Care Finance Administration, which oversees Medicare payments Noun 1. medicare payment - a check reimbursing an aged person for the expenses of health care medicare check bank check, check, cheque - a written order directing a bank to pay money; "he paid all his bills by check" , has changed the guidelines for treating anemia, saying patients with red blood cell counts red blood cell count, n the number of red blood cells (erthrocytes) in 1 mm3 of blood; a useful diagnostic tool in the determination of several kinds of anemia. See also mean corpuscular hemoglobin. above certain levels during a 90-day period won't be reimbursed for taking the Amgen drug. As recently as a month ago, Seringer said, the company told investors that most of the impact from those changes already had been felt. The announcement that sales of Epogen likely will be far below earlier projections ``creates a lot of misunderstanding and confusion that has people selling off the stock,'' Seringer said. Several brokerages, including Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. & Co., Cowen & Co. and Vector Securities downgraded their recommendations on Amgen on Tuesday to ``neutral'' on news of the expected sales slowdown. CAPTION(S): Chart Chart: (Color) Amgen drops |
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