Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday at theHambrecht & Quist Life Sciences Conference in San Franciscothat it has filed an IND for an amylin blocker, AC625, for thetreatment of hypertension associated with obesity and insulinresistance. Amylin said it hopes an IND for another amylinantagonist, AC253, will be filed in the first half of this year byits development partner, Glaxo.

By blocking the pancreatic hormone amylin, the peptide AC253is designed to improve carbohydrate and fat metabolism inType II diabetics. Both amylin antagonists are being developedunder a joint collaboration with Glaxo, with Amylin taking thelead on AC625 and Glaxo taking responsibility for AC253.

Timothy Rink, Amylin's president and chief technical officer,said at the conference that an excess of amylin appears to be afactor in several diseases, including insulin resistance, glucoseintolerance, obesity and essential hypertension. He noted thatAmylin Pharmaceuticals has a range of issued or allowed U.S.patents covering NIDDM, insulin resistance, hypertension andobesity. He said the company may have efficacy data on thecompounds by the first half of 1996.

The company is also developing amylin agonists. Its leadcompound, AC137, is in Phase II trials. It works to potentiateagainst episodes of hypoglycemia in Type I diabetics. TedGreen, Amylin's chairman and chief executive officer, notedthat AC137 is a separate adjunct to insulin, given from aseparate vial.

The ultimate goal of the company, Green said, is to develop acombination AC 137/insulin product that can be given in onedose and replace insulin. Amylin has sole rights to the amylinagonists, and Green indicated that the company has no plans toform collaborations or licensing agreements with othercompanies for the agonists.

Amylin's stock closed at $14.25 a share on Tuesday, up 50cents.

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