Amgen Posts Strong Q2 Results Amid Patent Pressure

Amgen's second-quarter revenue exceeded $10 billion, up 10% year over year, driven by growth in 22 products that achieved double-digit sales growth. The six key growth drivers - Repatha, EVENITY, TEZSPIRE, rare disease, innovative oncology, and biosimilars - grew 26% year over year, accounting for nearly 70% of total second-quarter product sales.

The company reported positive phase III data for IMDELLTRA in first-line maintenance small cell lung cancer, a potential major expansion for the drug. Amgen also announced that it is willing to spend more on growth and keep margins in the 45-46% range for the year, rather than prioritize profitability.

The company's biggest clinical update was positive phase III data for IMDELLTRA in combination with durvalumab as first-line maintenance treatment in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. The DeLLphi-305 trial showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rate versus durvalumab alone.