Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) climbed the most in the Russell 1000 Index, rallying more than 17 percent to $19.51. The stock is spiking higher today after Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) said its potential billion-dollar diabetes drug taspoglutide, which competes with Amylin’s Byetta, would face filing delays by as much as 18 months.
According to FDANews, Swiss-based Roche has pushed its taspoglutide filing date into 2011 most likely due to recently updated FDA requirements that diabetes drugs in trials assess cardiovascular risk.
Roche believes that taspoglutide could see peak sales of at least $1.7 billion if it gets to market. Analysts, however, have already become more skeptical about the drug’s prospects after Friday’s news.
Bloomberg: “This morning’s [announcement] is clearly a positive for Amylin, as it further hobbles taspoglutide, if not removes it from the competitive landscape entirely,” said Philip Nadeau, an analyst at Cowen & Co. in New York, in a note to clients. “There would seem to be a good chance that taspoglutide does not make it to market.”
Shares of Amylin rose $2.46, or 16.5 percent, to $14.90 in midday trading.
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