Amgen beats Street, raises guidance
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) reported 2Q12 financial results on Thursday that beat the Street, and raised its 2012 revenue and adjusted diluted EPS guidance. The company reported a 2Q12 adjusted diluted EPS of $1.83, up 34% from $1.37 in 2Q11 and ahead of the Street's $1.54 expectation. Revenues rose 13% to $4.5 billion, above the Street's estimate of $4.1 billion. Amgen raised its 2012 revenue guidance to $16.9-$17.2 billion from $16.1-$16.5 billion, and raised its adjusted EPS guidance to $6.20-$6.35 from $5.90-$6.15.
On the pipeline front, Amgen said in a conference call that AMG 145 met all "key" endpoints in four Phase II trials as a monotherapy and in combination with statins in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (heFH) and in statin-intolerant patients. The company did not disclose details but said it plans to submit the data for presentation later this year. Phase III testing for the human mAb against proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is slated to start early next year. ...