Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Glaxo, Bristol and Eli Lilly.

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – June 9, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN - Analyst Report), Merck (MRK - Analyst Report), Glaxo (GSK - Analyst Report), Bristol (BMY - Analyst Report) and Eli Lilly (LLY - Analyst Report).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Amylin Update Post ADA Meeting

This past weekend, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN - Analyst Report) presented several abstracts and oral presentations at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting in New Orleans. At the meeting, Amylin presented long-term follow-up data from the 74-week open label portion of the DURATION-1 program that demonstrated clear and sustained improvement in HbA1c for patients taking exenatide once weekly long-acting release (LAR).

The data also show improvements in fasting plasma glucose and weight loss while on LAR. Data from the previously reported DURATION-2 program also demonstrate that once weekly LAR offers greater glycemic control, with an added weight loss benefit over Takeda’s Actos and Merck’s (MRK - Analyst Report) Januvia. Exenatide LAR remains extremely well positioned to capture significant market share in the type-2 diabetes market if it is approved in March 2010.

"If" remains the operative word, however. Lingering concerns over the potential that exenatide causes pancreatitis, and newly found fears on potentially increased risk in C-cell malignant carcinoma of the thyroid in the GLP-1 class, have knocked Byetta (exenatide twice daily injection) significantly down off its previous growth trajectory.

Amylin management presented interim results from a retrospective safety analysis at ADA, seemingly quashing the pancreatitis risk. Data on over 25k patients taking Byetta shows no significant increased risk of developing pancreatitis at the 95% confidence interval. Still, however, the big risk to Amylin’s stock is that FDA may ask for additional data on the LAR formulation prior to granting approval.

Longer-term, intense competition in type-2 diabetes market may limit Amylin’s profitability. In the next few years, the potential exists that we will see up to three more GLP-1 molecules: Novo’s Victoza (liraglutide), Glaxo’s (GSK - Analyst Report) Syncira (albiglutide), and Roche’s Ipsen (taspoglutide), plus another DPP-IV inhibitor in Bristol’s (BMY - Analyst Report) Onglyza (saxagliptin) on the market. We note that Glaxo’s Syncira, currently in the initial stages of a phase III program, is also a once weekly injection.

However, the most concerning potential competitor is Amylin’s current partner on LAR, Eli Lilly (LLY - Analyst Report). At ADA, Lilly presented positive data from a phase II program called GBCJ demonstrating the effectiveness of its own internally developed GLP-1 molecule, LY2189265. LY2189265 is a once-weekly injection a novel-engineered fusion protein, consisting of a dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DDP-IV) protected GLP-1 analog linked to a fragment of immunoglobulin G4.

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