Amgen Gets High On Drug

Amgen needs a blockbuster, and it may have found one. ) shares jumped 13.4%, or $7.20, to $61.12, in after-hours trading on Friday after the company released positive data from a recent human trial of its postmenopausal osteoporosis drug denosumab. Its shares closed up 0.2%, at $53.92, in regular trading in New York. In the three-year study of 7,800 women, denosumab reduced the number of new fractures in the osteoporosis patients more than a placebo, as well as adding bone mass to the test subjects. Investors are counting on denosumab to be the next blockbuster for the company which has had two years of sales declines. Amgen will announce the complete data at the meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research in September. "Fracture is one of the most common health events a postmenopausal woman will suffer.... [read full story]