Company: Amylin Pharmaceuticals ($AMLN)
Based: San Diego
R&D budget: $157.3M (€114M)
Change from 2009: -15%
Net sales spent on R&D: 23%

Amylin's R&D team has notched some recent wins with Bydureon, the potential blockbuster formulation of the diabetes drug Byetta (exenatide). The drug, a once-weekly version of Byetta, won European regulatory approval and provided upbeat data from a heart-safety study this year. Now all eyes will be on the FDA's decision--expected in January--on Amylin and partner Eli Lilly's ($LLY) application for approval of Bydureon. Alkermes has a stake in this as well.

Aiming to keep its exenatide business humming in years to come, Amylin has a mid-stage program for a once-monthly formulation of the diabetes drug in development. The company's metreleptin for diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia has also shown potential to improve patients' insulin sensitivity and other key factors for patients with forms of lipodystrophy. That's the good news.

Unfortunately, Amylin's R&D in the snake-bitten obesity drug field has gone about as well as one might expect nowadays. The company and partner Takeda recently decided to kill their combo of pramlintide and metreleptin for treating obesity, after safety red flags that prompted the companies to halt the program in March.