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After a wave of pharmaceutical job cuts early this year (see /a>, /a> and /a> for a few that have hit sales staff), we haven’t had to wield the ax so much lately. That pause is over as we see in this /a> from Dow Jones Newswires about cuts at Amylin.

Amylin, which sells diabetes drug Byetta through a partnership with Eli Lilly, /a> it would reduce its sales force by 35%, or 200 positions, saving about $45 million in 2010.

The company’s primary and specialty sales force will merge, and Amylin will lean on Lilly for marketing efforts aimed at primary-care doctors. Amylin said it will have 325 sales reps who focus on endocrinologists and other docs who treat a lot of diabetes patients, while Lilly will focus both on endocrinologists and a larger group of primary-care docs.

This retrenching comes on top of cuts Amylin /a> late last year in the wake of safety concerns that hit Byetta. Cowen & Co. analyst Phil Nadeau wrote in a note to investors that he has cut his Byetta sales estimate for Amylin for 2009 to $660 million from an earlier prediction of $689 million, amid the drug’s struggles.

Meanwhile, Amylin, Lilly and Alkermes this morning /a> they had submitted a once-weekly version of Byetta to the FDA for approval, though Nadeau wrote that it’s unclear whether it will be approved.

Amylin has been involved in a /a> with Carl Icahn. The idea of a merger with Lilly /a>.

Image: iStockphoto

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