San Diego’s Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which sells two diabetes drugs, Byetta and Symlin, reported fourth quarter and year-end financial results Feb. 9, citing a net product sales figure of $56.2 million for the quarter and $86.7 million for the year. Total revenue for the year was $140.5 million and a net loss of $206.8 million, or $1.96 per share. The net loss is greater than 2004, when the company ended with a loss of $157 million.
The biotech also announced “positive results” of a 16-week Phase II, double-blind study for pramlintide, a drug meant for obesity.
Stock was up $1.10, or almost 3 percent at $39.20 in after-hours trading the day of both announcements.
Byetta brought in $49.7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $18.1 million in the third quarter, which was its first full quarter on the market. Symlin reeled in $6.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $3.8 million in the third.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Byetta in April, and Symlin the month before. Third quarter sales fell between about $3 million and $9.5 million short of some analyst’s projections.
The biotech reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $67.2 million, compared with $46 million for the same period in 2004. Amylin reports $443 million cash on hand.
The pramlintide study involved around 400 obese people who took the drug under six different doses or a placebo. Participants lost between 8.4 pounds and 13.4 pounds, compared to 6.2 pounds for the placebo group. Volunteers also participated in a “structured lifestyle intervention program that included diet, exercise and behavioral counseling,” Amylin reported.
The drug is a manmade material that acts as amylin, a human hormone that helps regulate appetite, according to the company.
, Katie Weeks