Aug 6 (Reuters) - Amgen ( AMGN ) on Tuesday said its

second-quarter profit slipped 1% as higher expenses offset a 20%

increase in revenue driven by the biotechnology company's

October acquisition of rare disease drugmaker Horizon

Therapeutics.

Amgen ( AMGN ) reported adjusted earnings of $4.97 per share, which

was just short of the average analyst estimate of $5.00,

according to LSEG data.

Quarterly revenue of $8.39 billion was slightly ahead of the

$8.37 billion forecast by analysts.

Sales of cholesterol drug Repatha rose 25% to $532 million,

while sales of older rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel fell 15%

to $902 million.

The company had "twelve products that delivered at least

double-digit sales growth," Amgen ( AMGN ) Chief Financial Officer Peter

Griffith said in an interview.

Second-quarter sales of Tepezza, Horizon's thyroid eye

disease drug, rose 7% from a year earlier to $479 million, while

gout drug Krystexxa saw sales rise 20% to $294 million.

Excluding Horizon's drugs, Amgen ( AMGN ) said product sales grew 5%.

The company said quarterly net earnings fell 46% to $1.38

per share, due to higher operating expenses, including costs

related to the Horizon deal.

Investors are focused on progress with Amgen's ( AMGN ) experimental

weight-loss drug MariTide. The company said it expects to have

initial data from a mid-stage trial of the medicine late this

year.

"We are laser focused on preparing to quickly launch a broad

Phase 3 program in obesity, obesity-related conditions and

diabetes," Griffith said.

Some analysts have forecast the market for new drugs for

weight loss reaching $130 billion a year by the early 2030s.

For full-year 2024, Amgen ( AMGN ) raised the lower end of its

revenue outlook to a range of $32.8 billion to $33.8 billion

from a previous low end forecast of $32.5 billion.

Amgen ( AMGN ) also narrowed its 2024 adjusted earnings estimate and

now expects a profit of $19.10 to $20.10 per share, compared

with its previous view of $19.00 to $20.20.

Analysts have forecast 2024 earnings per share of $19.51 on

revenue of $33.1 billion.