Amgen to settle case over drug marketing

Amgen Inc. has agreed to pay $762 million to resolve federal litigation accusing the drugmaker of marketing the anemia treatment Aranesp for unapproved uses.

The Thousand Oaks, Calif., company pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally introducing a misbranded drug into interstate commerce and will pay a $136 million fine and a $14 million forfeiture, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

It also agreed to a $612 million civil settlement, according to a law firm connected to the case.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on that because the civil settlement won’t be unsealed until a Wednesday court hearing, when a federal judge also will decide whether to accept the plea and sentence in the criminal case.

Amgen develops biologic medicines, or drugs produced by living cells rather than by mixing chemicals. Aranesp is approved for treating patients with anemia caused by chronic renal failure and chemotherapy.