Fitch rates Amgen A

Fitch Ratings said it assigned Amgen Inc. an issuer default rating and senior unsecured debt and bank ratings of A, and short-term issuer default and commercial paper ratings of F1.

The outlook is stable.

Ratings reflect Amgen's strong liquidity provided by full capacity under its $2.5 billion credit facility maturing November 2012, year-end 2007 cash and short-term investments of $7.2 billion, and solid free cash flow generation, the agency said.

A key credit concern is worldwide revenue being detrimentally affected by a significant sales decline for one of the company's key products, Aranesp, which represents one-fourth of total company revenue, Fitch said.

The issuer's total debt-to-EBITDA ratio rose to 1.65 times in 2007 from 1.4 times in 2006 primarily due to debt-financed share repurchases, the agency said.

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