Lilly wins ruling in dispute with Amylin over diabetes drugs

Eli Lilly and Co. won a ruling in a lawsuit brought by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., which wants to prevent Lilly from using the same people to sell Amylin’s diabetes drug and that of a competitor.

A federal judge in San Diego denied Amylin’s request for a preliminary order that would have imposed restrictions on Lilly’s diabetes sales force, the Indianapolis-based drugmaker said in a statement Wednesday.

“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” Robert A. Armitage, Lilly’s general counsel, said in the statement. “We believe that Amylin’s allegations against Lilly are entirely without merit and we fully expect to prevail in this litigation.”

Amylin, based in San Diego, sued Lilly last month, saying the manner in which Lilly plans to implement an agreement to develop and sell Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s type 2 diabetes drug breached its agreement to develop and commercialize Amylin’s competing drugs.

Amylin said in a statement it will pursue the litigation.

“Amylin continues to believe that Lilly’s conduct violates our diabetes collaboration agreements, is anti-competitive and limits patients’ treatment options,” the company said. “It is important to note that the court’s decision did not make any findings on the merits of our claims, but merely declines to award injunctive relief, based on the conclusion that monetary damages would be sufficient.”

The lawsuit is filed under seal and court documents weren’t immediately available.