Amgen’s Epogen Medicare Rate May Be Cut

The Clinton administration is developing a regulation that would slash Medicare payments for Amgen Inc.’s anti-anemia drug, Epogen, according to the Federal Register. The notice means the administration plans to proceed with drawing up a proposal on reducing Medicare’s reimbursement for Epogen, a Clinton administration spokesman said. Investors and analysts say the Clinton administration is going to keep pushing for this rate cut as part of its effort to control exploding Medicare costs. Shares of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen fell $1.50 to close at $78.88 on Nasdaq. The Federal Register did not say how much the administration would propose cutting Epogen reimbursement or when it would do so. Epogen generated $1.16 billion in revenue last year for Amgen. The company sells the drug to kidney dialysis providers, who buy it at a discount and then get a higher reimbursement from Medicare.