Amgen 'very encouraged' by data from weight-loss-drug trial, as stock jumps

By Claudia Assis

Amgen's stock soars toward biggest gain in 15 years, would add more than 220 points to the Dow's price

Shares of Amgen Inc. soared in premarket trading Friday, after the drug manufacturer posted adjusted earnings above expectations and executives said they are "very encouraged" by preliminary data from a trial of an injectable weight-loss drug.

Amgen said that it expects firm data from an ongoing Phase 2 study of the injectable drug, MariTide, late in the year, and that plans for a "comprehensive" Phase 3 program remain on track.

The stock (AMGN) shot up 12.5% ahead of the open, which sets it up for the biggest one-day gain since it ran up 13.9% on July 8, 2009. The implied price gain would add about 228 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's price DJIA, while Dow futures (YM00) rose 484 points, or 1.3%.

On a call with analysts following first-quarter results, Amgen's Chief Executive Robert A. Bradway said that interim analysis of the Phase 2 study is complete, and "we are very encouraged with results that we've seen thus far."

Amgen is "confident" MariTide will address important, unmet medical needs, and the company is moving quickly to prepare for the phase 3 trial and also to prepare to expand manufacturing capacity with clinical and commercial supply in mind, Bradway said.

Assuming approval, Amgen said it expects patients to take MariTide using a handheld autoinjector once a month, or an even less-frequent single injection. Amgen scrapped plans to further develop its oral weight-loss drug to focus on MariTide.

The news hurt the stocks of companies with approved weight-loss drugs. Shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO), which has the Wegovy and Ozempic drugs, fell 1%, while shares of Eli Lilly Co. (LLY), which has Mounjaro, shed 1.5%.

For the first quarter, Amgen lost $113 million, or 21 cents a share, contrasting with earnings of $2.8 billion, or $5.28 a share, in the first quarter of 2023.

It pinned the loss on higher operating expenses, including those related to its acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. The acquisition, which ran against regulatory hurdles, was completed in October.

Adjusted for one-time items, Amgen earned $3.96 a share, above expectations of $3.88 a share, according to FactSet.

The drugmaker's revenue rose 22% to $7.45 billion, meeting the FactSet consensus. Product sales were also up 22%.

Sales of Repatha, Amgen's cholesterol drug, increased 33% year over year to $517 million, the company said. Its Prolia osteoporosis drug generated sales of $999 million in the quarter, up 8% year over year.

-Claudia Assis

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05-03-24 0916ET

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