RULING MAY AID AMGEN EARNINGS.

Byline: Jim Finkle Bloomberg News

Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotech company, likely will beat third-quarter earnings forecasts after the government loosened rules that restricted payments for its top-selling drug, Epogen.

Analysts said the company is poised to exceed expectations that it will report earnings of 79 cents a share for the third quarter, driven by growth in sales of the anemia treatment Epogen.

Medicare, the government health program that foots the bill for almost all use of the drug that's given to kidney dialysis patients, earlier this year rescinded a rule that denied reimbursement for the drug if the red blood cell count in a patient exceeded a certain level over a 90-day period. That restriction discouraged some physicians from prescribing the drug because of concerns that they wouldn't be paid. Without the restrictions, the company should see stronger sales of the drug.

``They finally have some earnings momentum,'' said Jay Silverman, a BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst with a ``buy'' recommendation on Amgen shares. ``It's probably one of the easiest year-on-year comparisons they've had in six or seven quarters.''

The Thousand Oaks-based company is scheduled to release its earnings this afternoon. Company executives said they couldn't comment on the results before then.

If the earnings do beat estimates, the stock is likely to rise, said Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette analyst Craig Parker, who has a ``buy'' recommendation on Amgen.

``Especially in the current earnings environment we're in, upside surprises will be supported by the market,'' he said.

Parker forecasts the company will report earnings of 81 cents a share and Epogen sales of $351 million.

In the third quarter of 1997, Amgen's profit from operations were unchanged from a year earlier at $179.8 million, or 66 cents a share. Epogen sales were $285 million in third quarter of 1997, up from $275 million a year earlier.

The company's earnings also are benefiting from cost-cutting measures it imposed at the beginning of the year when it was battling to overturn the government restrictions on Epogen, said Eric Schmidt, an SG Cowen analyst with a ``hold'' recommendation on Amgen.

So far this year, Amgen shares have risen more than 40 percent as the change in rules on government payments for Epogen boosted earnings.

Amgen's second-quarter net income rose 7.9 percent to $216.1 million, or 82 cents a share, beating estimates it would report earnings of 74 cents a share. The company's shares rose 6.6 percent the following day.