Alert Issued on Anemia Drugs

Johnson & Johnson and Amgen Inc.’s anemia drugs, Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit, may have a risk of damaging red blood cells in certain patients, U.S. regulators said Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert about changes to the prescribing information for the three drugs. Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, and Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, N.J., advised doctors to discontinue the medications in patients who develop signs of a blood condition known as aplasia.

Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit, from a group of drugs known as erythropoeitins, are the world’s best-selling anemia treatments. Combined sales of Aranesp and Epogen were $5.1 billion last year. Sales of Procrit, which is sold as Eprex in Europe, were $3.59 billion.

Shares of Amgen, which had risen 71 cents to $81.64 on Thursday, fell to $81 in after-hours trading. The FDA posted its alert after the close of U.S. trading. Aranesp and Epogen are the company’s two biggest-selling products.

Johnson & Johnson, the maker of thousands of products including Tylenol and heart stents, rose a penny after closing at $61.69. Procrit/Eprex is Johnson & Johnson’s second-biggest selling drug.