AMGN Amgen Inc

   By Micah Maidenberg 
 

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) said sales fell 1% in the fourth quarter but they surpassed expectations from Wall Street analysts.

Amgen on Thursday reported $6.19 billion in sales, compared with $6.23 billion a year earlier.

The consensus estimate for sales for the latest period was $6.03 billion, according to FactSet.

Amgen reported net income of $1.7 billion, or $2.85 a share, down from $1.93 billion, or $3.01 a share, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

It also reported an adjusted profit of $3.64 a share, beating expectations for that metric of $3.41 a share.

The Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based company said sales for Enbrel, a rheumatoid-arthritis treatment, rose 2% in the quarter. Sales of Neulasta, a therapy for preventing infections in cancer patients, fell 43%. Both products face intense competition.

The biotechnology company has been pushing to roll out new drugs after facing patent expirations in recent years and new competition.

Research and development spending in 2019 rose 11% in the fourth quarter and increased 10% for the full year to $4.12 billion.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2020 16:27 ET (21:27 GMT)

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