It took Kevin Sharer nearly a year to admit the biotech was having a crisis, and that’s probably because he finally realized he wouldn’t get as much money as he had in the past. His 2007 compensation was down nearly 29 percent - to $13.2 million - from $18.6 million the year before, according to the proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Of course, that’s still a lot of money, isn’t it? Especially for a company with a laundry list of problems and embarassments - an FDA panel urged tighter restrictions for its Aranesp flagship med after studies found increased risks of cardiovascular disease, tumor growth and death. Congress is investigating the marketing and safety of several of its drugs. The SEC is probing its failure to tell Wall Street that a key clinical trial ended over safety concerns. Medicare reduced reimbursement. And the stock isn’t far from its 52-week low.

The Amgen board, however, must feel some loyalty to Kevin. He received just over $1.5 million in salary for the year, up slightly from the year before, and earned another $1.5 million in bonuses for meeting long-term and short-term objectives, down from $4.5 million in 2006. And Kevin was granted stock and option awards with an estimated value of $9.3 million on the day they were granted, compared to $11.65 million the previous year, the Associated Press notes.

The 60-year-old Kevin is hurting when it comes to perks - he received nearly $900,000, including nearly $275,000 for the use of the company plane and an Amgen-provided car and driver and $15,000 in financial and tax planning (such as making do with less?) By contrast, Amgen is trimming at least 2,200 to 2,600 jobs, and more cuts may be coming.

Aranesp sales fell 12 percent last year, driven mainly by a 39 percent drop in U.S. fourth-quarter demand, while Epogen sales were off 1 percent. Total sales of both drugs were close to $6.2 billion in 2007, or more than 40 percent of Amgen’s 2007 revenue. Amgen’s 2007 profit rose to $3.16 billion, or $2.82 a share, compared with the $2.95 billion in 2006.

Amgen shares were off today after Democrats in Congress questioned whether Amgen encouraged docs to over-prescribe Aranesp and Epogen through special discounts. Look here.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. They may vary from totals that companies report.