Amylin Pharmaceuticals to Present Novel Data on Promising Obesity Pipeline at 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesi...( Obesity is a chronic disease that aff...),Health

Obesity is a chronic disease that affects millions of people and is linked to increased health risk of several medical conditions including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep disorders and several types of cancers. According to The Obesity Society, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The total direct and indirect cost attributed to overweight and obesity health issues exceeds $100 billion in the United States each year. Obesity is also rapidly becoming a major health problem in all industrialized nations and many developing countries.

Amylin's Approach to Obesity Research and Development

Physicians and patients seeking prescription medications for weight loss have limited therapeutic options. New scientific advances have established the key role of neurohormones in regulating appetite and energy balance, as well as the importance of studying the interaction among these hormones (within the brain) to uncover their full therapeutic potential. Amylin scientists discovered that combination treatment with neurohormones such as amylin and leptin can produce additive and synergistic weight loss in animal models. These findings formed the basis for Amylin's innovative integrated neurohormonal approach to the development of obesity treatments.

About Pramlintide/Metreleptin Combination Treatment

Pramlintide acetate is a synthetic analog of the natural hormone amylin, a neurohormone secreted by the pancreas that is known to play a role in the regulation of appetite, food intake and postprandial glucose concentrations. Pramlintide is the active ingredient in SYMLIN(R) (pramlintide acetate) injection, which is indicated for use by patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who use mealtime insulin and who have failed to achieve desired glucose control despite optimal insulin therapy. Since launch, over 110,000 patients have been treated with SYMLIN. To date, ap
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