Class-Action Shareholder Suit Targets Amgen

Amgen Inc. has become the target of a class-action stockholders’ suit filed by several law firms charging that between Jan. 23 and Aug. 11 of last year, the Thousand Oaks biotech firm misrepresented the firms’s prospects on projected sales of Amgen’s two leading drugs. The suit alleges that Amgen execs profited from a subsequent rise in the value of the company’s stock. During the period in question, Amgen’s stock rose as high as $69.38. But in the months following an Aug. 12 company report showing weaker sales of the drugs, the shares fell as low as $44.88. Amgen shares rose $1.13 to close at $71.81 on Nasdaq.