FUGAZI, Just to clarify on the NY Times article, AMLN was discussed when the article focused on Type I and the "closer" to market was relative to various exotic approaches for type I.
Most of the article was on type II which is a much bigger market, and that portion of the article focused on oral treatment where Ligand (Targretin) and Lilly were discussed in some detail.
Here's the intro to type I and ANLM's "closer to market" approach:
Patients with Type 1 diabetes, once commonly known as juvenile
diabetes, must take multiple insulin shots every day to survive. About
750,000 people in the United States have Type 1 diabetes, a disease in
which the body mistakenly destroys the beta cells in the pancreas that
produce insulin. There are no oral therapies for Type 1 diabetes.
Partly because it affects fewer patients, and partly because it is largely
controlled by insulin, Type 1 diabetes has attracted fewer companies. But
several are working on encapsulated pancreas cells from animal or human
donors, in hopes of eliminating the daily injections by creating a
sustainable source of insulin that could evade the immune system. Others
are trying to develop genetically engineered animals that could serve as
pancreas donors. Both efforts are a long way from fruition.
Closer to market, Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. of La Jolla, Calif., was
formed in 1987 to develop a genetically engineered version of the
hormone amylin, which is normally produced in the same pancreas cells
as insulin. Type 1 diabetics do not produce amylin on their own, either. |
