Amgen price hikes to offset Aranesp payment drop

A new Medicare payment scheme for dialysis will likely result in a revenue drop for Amgen from its kidney disease treatment Aranesp. To compensate, the drugmaker has raised prices on several drugs.

Aranesp itself gets a 4.4 percent boost, reports Bloomberg. Prices on chemo-effect treatments Neulasta and Neupogen jump 2.9 percent.

Medicare cost controls have yielded a new payment scheme for dialysis treatment. In addition, Amgen suffered a 15 percent drop in sales of Aranesp in 2009, according to the report.

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