Amgen to pay $762M in improper drug marketing

Amgen will pay $762 million to settle litigation that accuses the drugmaker of marketing the anemia drug Aranesp for unapproved uses.

A law firm involved in the case says the Thousand Oaks, Calif., company will pay a $612 million civil settlement, $136 million in criminal fines and a $14 million forfeiture.

Amgen Inc. says it entered a conditional guilty plea to a misdemeanor count of misbranding Aranesp. The company took a $780 million charge last year for a possible settlement.

Amgen develops biologic medicines, or drugs produced by living cells rather than by mixing chemicals. Its settlement marks the latest between the U.S. Department of Justice and a drugmaker over improper marketing allegations.

Doctors can prescribe drugs for unapproved uses, but companies aren't allowed to market drugs for those uses.