SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Drugmaker Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday it will eliminate 340 jobs, or a quarter of its San Diego work force, in a move it said will cut its operating expenses by more than $100 million in 2009.
Amylin said the savings will be greater in 2010 than in 2009, which will help make the company profitable in 2010. The company will have 1,800 employees worldwide, including 900 in San Diego, after the reductions. In terms of cash spending, Amylin said it will save $80 million in cash spending in 2009.
Amylin said it will book a restructuring charge in the fourth quarter, but didn't specify the amount.
The company said it will still have enough staff to increase revenue from its diabetes drugs Byetta and Smylin.
Amylin is developing a once-per-week version of Byetta, and hoped to ask for Food and Drug Administration approval in mid-2009. But on Tuesday, the FDA rejected some of the data from studies of the drug, which could lead to delays.
The company is working on the drug with Eli Lilly and Co. and Alkermes Inc.
Sales of Byetta have been sluggish for much of 2008, and in August, reports connected the drug to six deaths from acute pancreatitis among patients. No link between Byetta and the deaths has been proved, but Amylin stock has been hit hard by the news.
In aftermarket trading, Amylin shares gained a penny to $8.26.
