THOUSAND OAKS -- Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company, forecast Tuesday that profits would rise significantly through 2005 because of strong sales of its anemia, cancer and arthritis drugs.
The company predicted its sales would increase by 30 percent to 32 percent in each of the next three years and that annual earnings per share over the same period would grow between 25 percent and 27 percent.
Much of that growth would come at the expense of bitter rival Johnson & Johnson's longtime domination of treating anemia in U.S. cancer patients.
Amgen's anemia-fighting drug Aranesp should began grabbing large chunks of the cancer market from Johnson & Johnson, said Leerink, Swann & Co. analyst Bill Tanner.
"Amgen should prove to be very formidable and go toe-to-toe with Johnson & Johnson," Tanner said, adding that Amgen's forecast is "not riskless" but that the company has generally met or exceeded Wall Street analysts' expectations the last five years.
Amgen said it expects sales of Aranesp and Epogen, an earlier version of the drug, to grow by as much as 25 percent each year.
Amgen also reaffirmed its rosy outlook for 2003, saying it expects to earn between $1.70 and $1.80 a share.
Last year, the Thousand Oaks-based company lost $784.5 million, or $1.21 a share, mostly due to the $3 billion it wrote off when it discontinued some Immunex Inc. research and development projects. Amgen bought Immunex last year.<
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