Adding Value to Amylin
It’s no secret that Diabetic Investor holds Amylin (NASDAQ:AMLN) is high regard. Byetta has proven to be the successful drug we predicted it would be and the prospects for the long-acting once-a-week version of Byetta looks bright. On several occasions we have stated that Amylin is the most valuable asset in the diabetes category.
With all the anticipation surrounding Byetta LAR, Amylin’s pipeline often gets overlooked. With obesity growing as fast diabetes and the close association between the two diseases Amylin is pursuing some interesting compounds for the treatment of obesity. Yesterday the company released data from a 24-week proof of concept study for pramlintide, an analog of human amylin, and recombinant human leptin (r-metHuLeptin; metreleptin) combination treatment in overweight or obese subjects.
According to a press release issued by the company; “At study end, pramlintide/metreleptin treatment reduced body weight on average by 12.7 percent, significantly more than treatment with pramlintide alone (8.4 percent; p<0.001). Subjects treated with pramlintide/metreleptin lost an average of 25 pounds from study start compared with an average of 17 pounds for subjects treated with pramlintide alone. Subjects receiving pramlintide/metreleptin had continuous weight loss through the end of the study compared to those treated with pramlintide alone, whose weight loss had stabilized towards the end of the study.” This morning came news of a study conducted by Danish researchers who reviewed four studies for patients taking Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY) obesity compound Acomplia. The four studies featured 4,105 patients and found that patients taking 20 mg per day of the drug were 2.5 times more likely to discontinue treatment due to depressive disorders and three times more likely to stop because anxiety than those who received a placebo. While approved in Europe, the an FDA panel has recommended that Acomplia not be approved here in the US. Given the results of this study, published in the Lancet, it’s difficult to see the full FDA going against the panel’s recommendation. At one time it was believed that Acomplia would be a mega-blockbuster especially since it was taken orally and not injected as the Amylin compounds are. Given the success of Byetta this thought process has begun to change. Now that it appears Acomplia will not gain entry into the US market, Amylin’s obesity compounds have taken on added luster. With Byetta moving towards the billion dollar level, LAR on track and their exciting pipeline Amylin’s already bright future looks even brighter. David Kliff Publisher 847-634-4777 847-634-4646 Fax 800-783-3712 224-715-3761 Mobile dkliff@diabeticinvestor.com www.diabeticinvestor.com http://davesrunfordiabetes.blogspot.com/
