Lilly: No plans to buy Amylin, thanks

Carl Icahn might want what Carl Icahn wants, but sometimes Carl Icahn doesn't get it. Eli Lilly says it's happy with its current diabetes drug partnership with Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and it has no plans to buy it. No matter what Icahn's been saying during his proxy fight for more control of the embattled company. "We like the relationship just the way it is now," CEO John Lechleiter (photo) told Reuters.

As you know, Icahn has been talking up the idea that Amylin might be better off under Lilly's wing. Just last week, Icahn said he'd like to see Amylin sell, but only at a price of at least $30 a share. Considering Icahn's record--he wrestled for control of MedImmune, turned the company around, and sold it off, for instance--when he talks about selling, he means it.

The sales talk is just part of Icahn's recent tussle with Amylin, however. In a heated series of letters, Icahn and Amylin's lead outsider director have been trading jabs as management tries to keep a clawhold on the company and Icahn tries to pry Amylin away. Both he and another investor group, Eastbourne Capital, aren't happy with Amylin management, and each are trying to induce shareholders to choose its five nominees to the company's 12-member board.

- read the Reuters story

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