Amgen (AMGN)

Competition in the dialysis market is inevitable - even though Amgen won its current patent case against Roche, there are many other products on the horizon that could take significant market share and many operate well outside of Amgen's patents - such as hematide, made by Affymax.

On July 7th, FMS announced it was purchasing APP pharmaceuticals, a key manufacturer of generic injectable oncology drugs. Amgen sells FMS ~ $1 Billion / year in EPO - a key injectable drug whose patents will expire in the next few years. Once EPO goes generic, FMS will probably just make it internally and cut Amgen out.

Amgen is extremely vulnerable to changes in reimbursement for its drugs. Nowhere is this more evident than the recent National Coverage Decision by the government in oncology, which has severely limited the use of Aranesp in cancer patients. As commercial payors and the federal government look around for cost saving, Amgen will continue to be a prime target.

AMGN as the recipient of 500 mm from Congress is outlined in interview with Bill Moyers:

http://billmoyers.com/segment/u-s-rep-peter-welch-on-amgen%E2%80%99s-sweet-senate-deal/

While the actions of AMGN and the lawmakers may simply go the way so many issues of involvement the perfidy therein is alarming.

Safety concerns over Amgen's erythropoietic products - which make up half of revenue - will lead to reductions in dose and less frequent use.