Amgen to Investors: We Feel Good

Investors listening to Amgen's (AMGN Quote) business meeting Friday didn't receive answers to all of their questions about bone-drug denosumab (Dmab), but they did get a jolt of executives' enthusiasm for the drug and the company.

Amgen has suffered a major blow to its largest profit center, its anemia drug franchise, in recent years due to safety and reimbursement concerns and label changes. But executives indicated that, aside from one more 10% to 20% decline in sales of anemia drug Aranesp, they feel they have weathered the storm and are looking to build back their business with late-stage osteoporosis drug Dmab.

Executives said, in fact, that they now intend to become one of the top three performers in biopharma in the next five years. However, they declined two requests to expand on that comment.

"This is a rare opportunity in our industry," Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer said about Dmab, which he said had blockbuster potential both in postmenopausal osteoporosis as well as in a larger indication, bone loss that cancer patients experience due to chemotherapy.

Amgen presented promising late-stage study data in the third quarter and said on its recent earnings call that it is close to filing an application for U.S. approval for the drug.

Street expectations for Dmab's market range widely, from $500 million to more than $2 billion, according to Cowen and Co.

One of the more pressing questions of the day, was how Amgen intends to market Dmab. Executives seemed fairly resolute on finding a capable and knowledgeable partner outside of the U.S. but are still undecided about the domestic route.