Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMLN)

gillet01 (26.38) Submitted: 8/27/2008 11:48:58 AM : Start Price: $21.00 AMLN Score: -21.21

Amylin is a bit of a one trick pony, but that pony Byetta (and it's soon to come LAR longer acting version) is a first in class drug treats one of the fastest growing diseases in the world, diabetes, with a major side effect of weight loss.The patient population that uses Byetta trend to older and sicker than the general pool of diabetics, and within this pool show a dramatic decrease in morbidity and tend to stick with treatment longer. The price has come down due to the reports of a number of deaths of patients on Byetta from pancreatitis. Time will tell whether this increase is directly related to Byetta, or merely a reflection of the patient pool being treated. What is clear is that even if there is an increased risk of pancreatitis, it is far outweighed by the overall decrease in morbidity by taking the drug. What isn't clear is how the hype may negatively effect usage.