Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN)

[SeriousMoney]

Getting Even More Bullish On Byetta
Peter Kang, 02.27.06, 1:23 PM ET
Forbes.com

Piper Jaffray raised the price target on Amylin Pharmaceuticals and said a recent physician survey indicates sales growth for diabetes treatment Byetta may be tracking above current Wall Street sentiment.

"Overall, physicians reported their Byetta usage will grow by 140% over the next 12 months," wrote Piper Jaffray analyst Thomas Wei.

"Our survey suggests roughly 25% to 30% potential upside to our prior estimate of $91 million and the Street consensus of $96 million for the fourth quarter 2006."

The pharmaceutical analyst raised the price target on Amylin shares to $52 from $50 and lifted the 2006 Byetta sales estimate to $331 million from $306 million.

The Piper Jaffray survey was sent to more than 500 endocrinologists and general practitioners with 115 responses.

Currently, endocrinologists and other specialists are more likely to prescribe the drug; Wei noted that sales growth could be even higher than projected by the survey as general practitioners become more comfortable prescribing Byetta.

"Endocrinologists were the major driving force behind adoption, with 95% of them with at least one Byetta patient vs. only 19% of GPs," he said.

The analyst has an "outperform" rating on the stock, which is one of Piper Jaffray's top mid-cap sector picks.

A long-acting form of Byetta is currently being developed by Amylin, Eli Lilly and Alkermes.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/commodities/2006/02/27/amylin-byetta-0227markets09.html