Risk Metrics Backs Three Dissident Directors For Amylin Board

Proxy advisory Risk Metrics, formerly known as ISS, has recommended that Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) shareholders elect three dissident directors after activist shareholders Eastbourne Capital Management and Carl Icahn "met their burden of proving that some change to the board is warranted."

Amylin, which sells diabetes drug Byetta with Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), has been aggressively attempting to fend off Eastbourne and Icahn, with a combined stake of almost 22% of the company, from taking over the board.

Shares of Amylin, which closed at $10.50 Friday, have dropped 70% from an August high of $35.

The drop began when news of patient deaths led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start working with the companies to add stronger warnings about severe pancreatitis to Byetta's label.

The revision and the approval for Byetta's use as a monotherapy have been delayed for months, which has stoked worries of regulatory delays of a longer-acting version of Byetta, expected to launch in 2010. Amylin has repeatedly asserted that there remains no proven relationship between Byetta and pancreatic side effects.

But Eastbourne and Icahn have harshly criticized Amylin's spending, management and expertise to launch the longer-acting version of Byetta.

-By Thomas Gryta, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2053; [e-mail]