Giving them an equal chance at life

The huge disparity in education that rich and poor children get is the root cause of the wide gap between them, and this only increases as they grow up.

Amylin shares fell 5.5 percent to $12.60 after-hours from$13.34 at the Nasdaq close. Salveen Kochnover, analyst with Collins Stewart, said therewere no "upside" surprises in the earnings report and addedthat uncertainty about once-weekly Byetta's approval could beputting pressure on Amylin shares. It previously forecastnon-GAAP operating loss of $75 million to $100 million, or GAAPloss of $175 million to $200 million. "We set a goal of becoming operating cash flow positive bythe end of 2010, and we have taken considerable steps towardachieving that goal," Chief Financial Officer Mark Foletta saidin a statement.

Selling, general and administrative expenses that decreasedto $92.1 million from $111.1 million were partially offset bycosts of the company's recent proxy battle in which dissidentinvestors won two seats on the board. The company said it now expects its 2009 operating loss tobe at the lower end of its prior forecasts, primarily due tosavings from its sales force reduction. Research and development expenses decreased to $63.6million from $75.4 million due to lower development costs forthe long-acting version of Byetta. But Byetta sales and quarterly losses are no longer thefocus of Amylin watchers. "At this point for Amylin it's more about the prospects ofthe next generation of Byetta, which is under FDA review, andthe progress of competing products," said Cutler, mentioningpotential rival diabetes drugs from Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) andRoche Holding AG (ROG.VX).

"There was a price increase at the beginning of the quarterand that definitely helped a little bit," he said. "Byetta sales came in in line with my expectation but werehigher than Street consensus (of $166 million)," said CanaccordAdams analyst Adam Cutler. Byetta sales for the quarter slipped to $175.1 million from$177.5 million, while total revenue fell 5.7 percent to $209.4million, edging past Wall Street estimates of $205.7 million. The biotechnology company posted a net loss of $62.4million, or 44 cents per share, compared with a loss of $66.6million, or 49 cents a share, a year ago. "The team is in full pre-launch mode and actively preparingto commercialize exenatide once weekly," Bradbury said, usingthe drug's chemical name. Chief Executive Daniel Bradbury expressed confidence in theonce-weekly Byetta submission to the U.S.