As a response to growing public concern, a federal panel Thursday called for additional restrictions on the use of anemia drugs by cancer patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel?s recommendation could lead to an additional decline in sales for Aranesp, made by Amgen, and Procrit by Johnson & Johnson.

?They dodged the really big bullet, but they still took some damage,? said Geoffrey C. Porges, a biotechnology analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.

The two companies ?dodged? the recommendation they may have feared most: that the drugs not be used by any cancer patients. That could have meant the loss of at least $1 billion in sales for each company. Still, the panel recommended that Aranesp and Procrit not be used for certain types of cancer patients, and that patients be required to sign consent forms in order to obtain the drugs.

While the FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels, it generally does, and is expected to consult with the manufacturers of Aranesp and Procrit to revise labeling on both drugs.

Source: Andrew Pollack, The New York Times, ?Panel Seeks New Limits on Anemia Drugs,? March 14, 2008. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/business/14anemia.html?_r=1&ref=health)