Pharmaceuticals: A pretax charge of $129 million...

Pharmaceuticals: A pretax charge of $129 million for its EPO arbitration assessment forced Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks to post a loss of $48.4 million in its first quarter, in contrast with a gain of $11.1 million a year ago. Revenue soared 115% to $153.8 million. Without the charge, net income would have been $40.1 million. Merck & Co. announced that its second-quarter income rose 18% from a year ago to $556 million as sales climbed 12% to $2.1 billion. The Rahway, N.J., firm said new products accounted for the gains and added that its domestic and international operations had solid increases. Pfizer Inc., New York, reported a second-quarter increase in net income of 18% on a sales gain of 9%. Net income totaled $179.1 million; worldwide sales were $1.6 billion. The company’s main operations posted strong gains: health care (15%), consumer products (14%) and animal health (7%)--reflecting acceptance of new products in those areas.