Amgen, Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) stock fell over 7.7% on 28th April, 2021 (as of 10:43:52 UTC-4 · USD; Source: Google finance) after the company posted lower than expected results for the first quarter of FY 21 due to a 7% drop in its net drug prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, which continued to limit patient interactions with healthcare providers.
In bone health, Prolia grew 16% year-over-year, to over $500 million of U.S. sales in the U.S. for the first time. EVENITY sales rose 7% year-over-year driven by strong volume growth. Repatha sales grew 25% year-over-year to a quarterly sales record of $286 million mainly due to 36% volume growth, and the company maintains global leadership in the PCSK9 class. The sales outside the U.S. rose by 40% driven by strong patient demand. In the U.S., the company continues to see strength in new patient starts with new-to-brand prescriptions growing 54% quarter-over-quarter helped by favorable pharmacy benefit manager formulary changes. Otezla sales were $476 million in the quarter. The volume growth of it was 9%, driven mainly due to 11% total prescription growth in the U.S. Otezla remains the market-leading branded systemic medication for psoriasis with an approximately 30% share of first-line treatment. In the quarter, Enbrel sales declined 20% year-over-year with declines in both unit volume and net selling price. Parsabiv sales declined by 55% year-over-year, driven by 65% decline in volumes.
Moreover, Neulasta’s U.S. average selling price fell 30% on a year-over-year basis, and the company expects this trend to continue throughout 2021 driven by intensifying competition. XGEVA sales fell 3% year-over-year for the first quarter as volume growth in Asia was offset by lower net selling price in that region. U.S. unit volumes fell year-over-year driven by demand impacts in January and February, with recovery beginning in March and into April. KYPROLIS sales declined by 10% year-over-year for the first quarter as the pandemic has suppressed the number of new patients starting treatment for multiple myeloma.
AMGN in the first quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.70, missing the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $4.04, as calculated by Refinitiv. The company had reported 4 percent fall in the adjusted revenue to $5.9 billion in the first quarter of FY 21, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $6.26 billion. The company has reaffirmed the 2021 guidance with a revenue expected to be in the range of $25.8 billion to $26.6 billion and a non-GAAP EPS expected to be in the range of $16 to $17.