Amgen Has Investors Convinced

Investors quickly showed their confidence in biotechnology company Amgen when it announced promising study results for denosumab, an experimental treatment for bone loss. However, analysts predict that Amgen will have a difficult time dethroning Novartis, the company behind Zometa and Amgen’s direct competitor in the bone-loss treatment market.
 
Amgen’s stock rose 15 percent in early trading, settling at $59.50 a share at the end of the day. Industry experts are worried that the sudden rise in Amgen’s stock has set expectations for the company that it might not be able to meet. Denosumab will not even be approved by the FDA until October, and even then, the FDA might decide to not approve it at all.
 
Working in Amgen’s favor is the fact that denosumab has proven to be wholly more effective than Zometa in treating bone loss in breast cancer patients whose cancer spread. Analysts predict that Amgen could bring in around $1 or $2 billion each year just from selling denosumab to breast-cancer patients and much more if they sell the drug to other osteoporosis patients.

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