Lilly CEO Has No Plans to Buy Amylin

Bruce V. Bigelow4/28/09

Eli Lilly’s CEO told reporters in Los Angeles the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant has no plans to acquire San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals—a sentiment that seems contrary to what dissident shareholders want. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Eastbourne Capital Management, which together hold more than 20 percent of Amylin shares, have been waging a proxy battle to gain control of Amylin (NASDAQ: AMLN). They apparently want to push for the sale of the diabetes drug developer to Lilly, which formed a partnership to market Amylin’s drugs. But Lilly (NYSE: LLY) CEO John Lechleiter says, “We like the relationship the way it is now,” and has no plans to acquire Amylin, according to Reuters.

Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call (619) 669-8788