LOS ANGELES (AP) - Shares of Amgen Inc. slipped more than 2 percent Friday as the company met with analysts to discuss a study that found its best-selling drug Aranesp was not significantly better than a placebo in aiding certain cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment.
Amgen shares fell $1.55, or 2.27 percent, to close at $66.73 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The company, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., held a conference call to address questions about the findings of the study first released in December.
Amgen Chief Executive Kevin Sharer said Amgen had advised U.S. and European regulators about the preliminary findings of the study by the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group, but added that Amgen hadn't seen the data.
The Danish group was still compiling information and had asked Amgen for support, which the company agreed to give, Sharer said.
'We strongly believe, as we have consistently stated, that Aranesp and Epogen are safe and effective medicines when used in accordance with label indications,' Sharer told analysts.
Amgen management stressed that the study was 'off-label,' or experimental, because it was testing the effectiveness of the drug outside the scope of its prescribed use, which is to alleviate anemia in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy by increasing red blood cells.
The study by the Danish group evaluated whether Aranesp would help improve the outcome of radiation therapy in patients with head or neck cancer by making their tumors more susceptible to radiation.
The patients in the study also were not anemic, the company noted.
The study was stopped in October. Two months later, the study's top investigator said researchers had concluded from the preliminary data that the prospects of the drug proving to be more effective than a placebo were remote.
The study also found 'a small, but significant poor outcome in the patients treated with Aranesp.'
Full data on the study will not be available until later this year.
Sharer said the company will make a point of notifying the public on the status of approved drug trials going forward.
Aranesp was Amgen's top selling drug last year, with sales of $4.12 billion.
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