DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Two more proxy advisers have come out in support of non-company nominees to Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) board as part of a fight between the drug maker and shareholders Eastbourne Capital Management LLC and Carl Icahn.

Proxy Governance backed all five of the dissidents' nominees - three from Eastbourne and two from Icahn. Glass Lewis & Co. is supporting two and one, respectively.

Eastbourne founder and portfolio manager Richard J. Barry said the two proxy advisers, plus RiskMetrics, independently reached the same conclusion that Amylin will benefit from new leadership and that a fresh perspective is needed to address its current issues and take advantage of opportunities in Amylin's research and development pipeline.

Glass Lewis said it believes the company has "serious problems," noting that Amylin has missed earnings projections for the two prior years, hasn't provided a 2009 forecast and its stock has suffered. Shares are down from $50 in October 2007 to Friday's close of $10.50.

RiskMetrics is also supporting two Eastbourne nominees as well as one of Icahn's.

Icahn last week said Amylin tried to minimize "the success my nominees and I achieved for all shareholders at ImClone." Icahn took control of ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) in 2006, then helped lead the company's sale to Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) about two years later for $4.5 billion.

Amylin lead independent director James Wilson and Chairman Joseph Cook said they believe a sale wouldn't match the value of the company's efforts to develop the once-weekly injectable diabetes drug exenatide with Eli Lilly. The drug is a long-acting version of Byetta, which is injected twice-daily.

-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2473; tess.stynes@dowjones.com