Betting on Bydureon

After its split from Eli Lilly and Co., Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans to go it alone in the U.S. diabetes market. To compete with the large pharmas that dominate the space, the biotech is banking on a large, targeted sales force and approval of once-weekly Bydureon exenatide in the U.S. in January.

It remains to be seen how the company's activist shareholder Carl Icahn - who has said he is opposed to a biotech trying to sell primary care products - feels about the plan...