Amylin positive on diabetes drug future

The chief operating officer of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Daniel Bradbury, said that Wall Street are undervaluing the potential of new Amylin diabetes and obesity drugs.
Bradbury spoke out at the Reuters Health Summit regarding another new diabetes drug from the firm. Exenatide LAR would have a similar effect to the company’s major flagship drug, byetta. However, the new drug would only need to be injected once weekly, instead of two times a day for byetta. Amylin intend to partner up with major drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. to sell the drug.
Byetta gained notoriety through its weight-loss side effects . He said this put the drug into competition with the new DPP-4 inhibitors that are set to flood the market . Januvia (Merck and Co.) and Galvus (Novartis) are the heralds of this new drug class. Bradbury dismissed concerns that these drugs would sweep byetta away.
Bradbury also stressed the weight loss benefits of Exenatide LAR that are thought to be even more powerful than those of byetta. Weight loss is viewed as a key concern with the rising influence of obesity on diabetes. Bradbury also dismissed concerns of potential side effects of byetta, concluding: “It is very much a phenomenon of the investment community and not the medical community. …it is very clear there is no abnormal level of pancreatitis.”