Content about Amylin Pharmaceuticals

NEW YORK — Bristol-Myers Squibb has bought a majority stake in drug maker Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Bristol said Wednesday.

The New York-based drug maker said that 140.5 million shares of Amylin had been put up for sale at $31 per share, and that it now owned 85.55% of the San Diego-based company. Bristol said it planned to acquire the rest of Amylin's shares Wednesday as well.

PHILADELPHIA — When one of Amylin Pharmaceuticals' diabetes drugs is used with mealtime insulin, both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients maintain blood sugar in the normal glucose range on a daily basis, according to two analyses presented at the 72nd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

SUPPLIER NEWS — A drug under development by Forest Labs and Pierre Fabre has been shown to reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder, the companies said. New York-based Forest and Paris-based Pierre Fabre announced results of a phase-3 trial of levomilnacipran, saying the drug showed reductions in symptoms as early as one week after treatment was started. The companies expect results of another phase-3 trial of the drug this spring.


INDIANAPOLIS — A new drug for Type 2 diabetes made by Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim is available in pharmacies, the companies said Wednesday.

The two companies announced the availability of Jentadueto (linagliptin and metformin hydrochloride). The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug on Jan. 30.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — For all the fears about the patent cliff, at least one disease state seems to be on the up-and-up in terms of new drug development and new products.

(THE NEWS: FDA approves Bydureon. For the full story, click here.)

INDIANAPOLIS — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for Type 2 diabetes made by Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, the drug makers said.

The FDA approved Jentadueto (linagliptin and metformin) tablets, designed to be taken twice daily. The approval marks the second since the two companies announced their collaboration to develop diabetes drugs in January 2011; the first drug approved under the Lilly-BI partnership was Tradjenta (linagliptin), approved in May 2011.

SAN DIEGO — A special focus on its diabetes franchise will define Amylin Pharmaceuticals' corporate strategy, the company's chief executive said at a recent conference sponsored by J.P. Morgan.

INDIANAPOLIS — A diabetes drug made by Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use with an insulin product made by Sanofi.

Lilly and Amylin said Byetta (eventide) won approval from the FDA as an add-on therapy for patients with Type 2 diabetes taking Sanofi's Lantus (insulin glargine [rDNA origin]) who have not achieved adequate blood sugar control on Lantus alone.

The recent film “Contagion” depicts the world descending to chaos due to the spread of an extremely deadly virus. But in reality, one of the most serious epidemics doesn’t come from an infectious agent but from people’s life choices.


LISBON, Portugal — Patients treated with a long-acting drug for Type 2 diabetes experienced a reduction in cardiovascular health risk factors, according to results of a study presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes' annual meeting.

SAN DIEGO — Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceutical have halted development of a treatment for obesity in mid-stage clinical trials, the two companies said.

The companies said the decision to discontinue development of a therapy that combines pramlintide and metreleptin was based on "a commercial reassessment of the pramlintide/metreleptin program … [that] took into account a revised development plan, as well as evolving dynamics within he obesity therapeutic area."

BURLINGTON, Mass. — Novo Nordisk could be outpacing Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals in the diabetes wars, according to an analysis by healthcare market research firm Decision Resources.