As Expenses Plummet, Amylin Pharma Narrows 2Q Losses

Earlier on Tuesday, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced the narrowing of its losses in the second-quarter as the decline in costs make up for the plummet in revenue for the diabetes drug maker.
Over a period of 3 months that ended June 30, the San Diego based Amylin incurred a loss of $31.4 million or 22 cents per share. This is comparable with losses seen in the second quarter of last year where the company lost $44.2 million or 31 cents per share. As product sales saw a decline, the total revenue plummeted by 4 percent to about $158.1 million.
Surveyed by FactSet, analysts expected a loss of 20 cents per share on $156.8 million in revenue, on an average.
Diabetes drugs Byetta and Symlin are manufactured by Amylin, with Byetta (marketed with Indianapolis drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co) contributing to a large chunk of its product sales. According to Amylin, Byetta saw a fall of 8 percent to $140.7 million in the quarter.
Revenues rose from $3.3 million from $1.9 million through collaborative agreements.
As the company decreased expenses related to sales force and pre-launch activities for Bydureon, the costs and expenses fell 10 percent to $182.9 million. Bydureon is a longer-lasting version of Byetta approved by the European regulators last month. As a part of the company’s effort to manage expenses, the research and development costs also saw a decline.
Bydureon (designed to be taken once a week) is being developed by Amylin in partnership with Lilly and Alkermes Inc. of Waltham, Mass. Owing to the decline in the drug approval by the FDA in October, the companies plan on providing additional data to the agency later this year.
In morning trading, Amylin shares plummeted 4.9 percent, or 65 cents, to $12.65.