Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced a collaboration andexpansion Monday.

The San Diego pancreatic hormone company (NASDAQ:AMLN)will scale up its recombinant process for bulk intermediateproduction of an amylin agonist AC137 in an agreement withthe Alberta Research Council (ARC) in Edmonton, Canada. AC137 is the company's first product candidate for the treatmentof Type I diabetes.

Amylin, a newly discovered pancreatic hormone, may play arole in the regulation of carbohydrate, fat and bonemetabolism.

Formed in 1987, the company recently expanded into 23,000square feet of additional laboratory, pilot research and officespace near its headquarters. The new space will housepharmaceutical development and quality control operationsand Good Manufacturing Practice processing of bulk drugs,including AC137.

AC137 is currently produced by chemical synthesis, but thecompany's biologically based production strategy may be moreeconomical.

After process development work is completed at the ARC,Amylin may proceed with process validation and production atARC's facility, which has a 40,000-liter fermentation scale-upcapacity and is the largest publicly owned pilot plant in Canada.Established 10 years ago, the ARC biotechnology departmentperforms microbiology, carbohydrate pharmaceutical research,synthetic chemistry, biological manufacturing and processengineering. -- Nancy Garcia

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