Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which developed novel diabetes drugs Byetta and Simlin, on Oct. 24th announced an extensive program of clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of different combinations of neurohormones in the treatment of obesity.

Amylin also presented results of a Phase 2 extension study reporting that patients completing 52 weeks of treatment with pramlintide, a drug that is an analog of the human hormone amylin, experienced a mean weight reduction of 7 to 8 percent, compared to a 1 percent for patients receiving placebo.

Four of the new trials will test the use of pramlintide in various combinations with leptin and PYY 3-36, a hormone that occurs naturally in the small intestine that is thought to send messages to the brain signaling fullness.

The fifth clinical study will evaluate parmlintide mimetic designed to have enhanced anti-obesity properties. An Investigational New Drug application was recently submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for this drug.

"Amylin's research is focused on novel peptide hormones and their potential to treat a wide range of complex diseases," said Amylin CEO Ginger L. Graham.

"This approach has been applied successfully to diabetes with the introduction of Byetta and Symlin," he said. "Today we announced a new clinical research program, which applies this scientific strategy to address the global epidemic of obesity."