Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

AMLN sues LLY regarding diabetes partnership with B-I:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Amylin-Pharmaceuticals-Files-prnews-1617712438.html?x=0&.v=1

In its complaint, which seeks among other things, a preliminary and permanent injunction, Amylin alleges that Lilly is engaging in improper, unlawful and anticompetitive behavior in the manner in which it plans to implement its recently announced global alliance agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH ("BI") to jointly develop and commercialize BI's linagliptin product, which will compete directly with Amylin's exenatide products. The principal relief Amylin seeks is to prevent Lilly from proceeding with its plans to use the same sales force to sell both exenatide and BI's competitive linagliptin.

Merely using the same salesforce to promote Byetta/Bydureon and Tradjenta (linagliptin) does not strike me as injurious to the commercial prospects for Byetta/Bydureon. Rather, the issue of consequence would seem to be how LLY’s sales reps are compensated for detailing each drug.

Tradjenta, the DPP-4 inhibitor from LLY/B-I, was approved by the FDA two weeks ago (#msg-62668535). The LLY–B-I partnership was announced in Jan 2011 (#msg-58667443).