New York  - Amgen Inic, the world's largest biotechnology company, Thursday reported a 2 per cent increase in first quarter profits compared to the same period last year, helped by the arthritis treatment Enbrel.

Net income was 1.14 billion dollars, compared to 1.11 billion dollars a year earlier, the Thousand Oaks, California-based company said in a statement.

Amgen's troubles with its anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, pulled down its performance. The drugs were linked to risk of heart attack, stroke and death at high doses, Bloomberg financial news service reported.

The products boost oxygen-carrying red blood cells to fight weakness and fatigue.

Enbrel, a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, generated 951 million dollars in the first quarter, a 30 per cent increase from a year earlier.

Total revenues were 3.61 billion dollars for the quarter. (dpa)