Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company, rose in extended trading as sales of its anemia drugs, linked to heart risks, fell less than analysts expected in the fourth quarter.

Net income rose less than 1 percent to $835 million, or 76 cents a share, from $833 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Profit excluding certain costs beat analysts' estimates.

Amgen's dropped 32 percent in Nasdaq trading last year after its top-selling anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, were tired to heart-disease risk. Sales of Aranesp, the company's biggest product, fell 25 percent in the quarter to $827 million, and still exceeded analysts' estimate of $739 million. Total revenue of $3.75 billion beat expectations of $3.6 billion.

``It's a real surprise to most of us,'' said Eric Schmidt, an analyst with Cowen & Co. in New York, in a telephone interview. ``This was a very good quarter for them.''

Amgen rose $2.33, or 5.5 percent, to $48:45 at 6:02 p.m. New York time in extended trading after the report. Earlier, the stock gained $1.37, or 3.1 percent, to $46.12 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has declined 39 percent in the past 12 months.

In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services changed its policy so that it would only pay for lower-than- recommended doses of anemia drugs for cancer patients. Many analysts had thought that policy would continue to hurt Aranesp sales in the fourth quarter, Schmidt said.

The Thousand Oaks, California-based company responded to declining sales of its anemia drugs by cutting as many as 2,600 jobs, about 13 percent of its total, in August.

Enbrel

Enbrel generated $856 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, an 8 percent increase from a year earlier. That beat Wall Street expectations of $838 million, said Michael King, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw, in a note to clients Jan. 23.

For 2008, Amgen said it expects revenue to decline to a range of $14.2 billion to $14.6 billion. Profit, excluding some expenses, will be $4 to $4.30 a share, the company said. It expects to spend $1 billion on capital projects in 2008.

Separately, Amgen said its leading experimental drug in development, denosumab for osteoporosis, succeeded in a large clinical trial. The drug helped improve bone mineral density for postmenopausal women by 40 percent compared with those taking Merck & Co.'s Fosamax.

Profit excluding certain expenses in the fourth quarter was $1 a share, beating the 97-cent average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. For the year, Amgen reported profit of $4.29 a share, beating the range of $4.13 to $4.23 it forecast in October.

Aranesp, Epogen

U.S. sales of Aranesp fell 39 percent to $462 million in the fourth quarter. Epogen, sold in the U.S. for kidney dialysis patients with anemia, dropped 3 percent to $638 million. That exceeded analysts' estimates of $595 million, King said.

Amgen's products for boosting white blood cells, Neupogen and Neulasta, had $1.12 billion in fourth-quarter sales, a 9 percent increase. The products, which are used to help cancer patients defend themselves from infections, had $4.28 billion in combined sales in 2007.

Spending on research and development was $822 million in the fourth quarter, a 22 percent drop from $1.05 billion a year earlier, Amgen said.

2007 Revenue

Revenue fell 2 percent to $3.75 billion in the fourth quarter. For 2007, Amgen had $14.8 billion in revenue. That fell short of the $15.4 billion to $16 billion it forecasted a year earlier.

Amgen has been asked to appear March 13 before a panel of cancer drug advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, who will review new data on Aranesp's risks. In November, Amgen reported that breast cancer patients in a study called Prepare had a higher risk of death after taking Aranesp.

The anemia medicines are also prescribed for patients with chronic kidney failure. They work by stimulating production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells, which can make patients feel more energetic, doctors say.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luke Timmerman in San Francisco at ltimmerman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 24, 2008 18:32 EST