Technology Focus

Amylin Inc.'s first generation diabetes compound, Symlin pramlintide, always has been hard for the outside world to understand, because the results of its clinical trials have been complex. The case for the company's next compound in line, AC2993, appears to be much more straightforward.

Over the weekend, AMLN was to release Phase II data on AC2993, showing efficacy on multiple end points related to reductions in glucose. AC2993 (synthetic exendin-4) is a 39-amino acid peptide that exhibits several of the anti-diabetic actions of the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). The Phase II trial studied 109 patients with Type II diabetes who were inadequately controlled with oral agents (sulfonylureas or metformin alone or in combination). ...