Like fellow Big Pharmas Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson, Amgen is urging the Trump administration to consider tax policy instead of tariffs to promote domestic pharma manufacturing.
Instead of slapping tariffs on pharmaceutical products, Amgen argues that domestic manufacturing could be better off with “pro-growth tax policy,” company executives said during the company’s first quarter earnings call.
“To build on the manufacturing base in the U.S., we agree with our peers that the most effective answer is not tariffs but tax policy,” CFO Peter Griffith said on Thursday’s call. At least in Amgen’s case, President Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, filed in 2017 under his first term, led to significant increases in manufacturing investment.
Regarding Trump’s pharma tariffs, CEO Bob Bradley said it is “premature to speculate” on the impacts these may have on Amgen’s business. Regardless of the “uncertainty,” however, Bradley emphasized that “we’ve proven our ability to adapt and we’ve demonstrated the operating agility necessary to navigate change.”
Amgen isn’t alone in advocating for tax policy over tariffs while also touting investments in the U.S. Like Lilly and J&J, both companies that have spoken out against tariffs in favor of changing tax policy, Amgen is pouring more money into its U.S. operations. Last week, Amgen announced a $900 million investment to expand its production plant in Ohio and create 350 new jobs in the region.
In the first quarter, Amgen posted a 9% year-on-year sales bump, bringing in $8.1 billion in the first three months of 2025, falling largely in line with analyst expectations. Its main business drivers were the postmenopausal osteoporosis injection Prolia, which raked in nearly $1.1 billion, and the cholesterol-lowering treatment Repatha, which hit $656 million in Q1 sales.
Aside from tariffs, Amgen’s next-generation weight-loss drug MariTide was the dominant focus on the earnings call. The pharma will present full Phase II data for the drug candidate in June at the upcoming Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. In November last year, a peek at these findings underwhelmed investors, with MariTide’s weight-loss falling on the lower end of what analysts had expected.
Despite these mixed mid-stage findings, Amgen on Thursday remained confident in MariTide. Justin Claeys, vice president of Investor Relations, pointed to the drug’s “strong efficacy,” which showed “no plateau [at] 52 weeks.” MariTide was also well-tolerated at its target dose.
Amgen has also initiated two Phase III trials for MariTide for chronic weight management, with plans to start additional studies “later this year,” looking at specific subpopulations of patients with obesity, Claeys added.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Amgen reiterated its 2025 forecast, anticipating full-year revenues of $34.3 billion to $35.7 billion. This forecast takes into account the potential effects of the current tariffs but has not yet accounted for additional duties that could be implemented, including pharma-specific tariffs, Griffith said during the investor call.
