Amylin Accused of Spreading "Baseless Accusations," "Innuendo" and Misusing CNBC in Director Fight

(MoneyWatch)  The battle for control of Amylin's board of directors has entered a gossipy phase. One of Eastbourne Capital's director candidates has written to Amylin claiming the board has been spreading "baseless accusation[s]" and "innuendo" about her, and CNBC's Mike Huckman has objected to the way Amylin has quoted him in its proxy materials.

Eastbourne board candidate M. Kathleen Behrens wrote:

I am writing to raise a point of personal privilege and correct a baseless accusation by your representatives that I hope will concern you as much as it does me.

It has been brought to my attention by an Amylin shareholder that your representatives have been claiming that, in my prior conversations with some of you, I stated I was "interested and/or willing to sell Amylin at $20 a share" or words to that effect. If this is your interpretation of something I said, it is completely wrong.

The claim is obviously intended to lend some slender support by innuendo to an otherwise groundless portrait of Eastbourne Capital as having a "'short-term' sell now" agenda.

The accusation is gossip, Behrens asserts, because Amylin hasn't even filed it publicly with the SEC.

Over at CNBC, reporter Mike Huckman noted that Amylin has started quoting him in its proxy materials. The line they lifted from one of his TV appearances is:

According to Mike Huckman, CNBC's Pharmaceutical Reporter, "Many analysts believe that if [exenatide once weekly] makes it through [the FDA approval process it] may be a blockbuster, maybe even a mega blockbuster drug." (May 5, 2009).

Here's Huckman's plea:

I want to make absolutely clear to anyone who might try to misinterpret the use of my name in the SEC filing that the quote does not reflect my opinion of Amylin or Byetta or its prospects as a once-a-week injection for diabetes.

I certainly don't object to being quoted. After all, that's what I do...quote people. I simply don't want Amylin's use of my quote to be misconstrued by anyone that it in any way means I'm taking sides here. I am not. I would never.

Huckman notes that he has no opinion on prospects for exenatide once weekly (or whatever it is called this week); he's just citing other analysts.

• See previous coverage of Amylin:
• Amylin Sales Force Is Least-Effective Among Its Peers, Claims Eastbourne
• Amylin May Abandon the "Byetta" Name for Exenatide Once Weekly
• Amylin v. Icahn Slideshow Battle: Tear Up Lilly-Byetta Agreement!
• Amylin v. Eastbourne Slideshow Battle; It's All About the Stock Price
• In U-Turn, Amylin Lays Off 200; Move Validates Icahn's Arguments
• Amylin Trial Testimony: Debt Not Structured With Interest or Principal Payments in Mind
• The War for Amylin: Lilly Not Interested; Icahn Calls the Company a "Dictatorship"
• Amylin CEO Got 11% Pay Rise Despite Losses; Company Paid $355K for Lawyer to Move House
• Amylin Q1: "Icahn Doesn't Know Who Our CEO Is"
• In War for Amylin, Icahn and Eastbourne Win a Battle: "Poison Pill" Revoked
• Amylin Founder Resigns, Suggests Chairman Follow; Icahn and Eastbourne Likely Delighted
• Inside Amylin's Anti-Icahn Suicide Pact
• Amylin Battle Heats Up as Eastbourne Capital Touts Rival Directors' Slate to Icahn's
• Icahn Moves on Amylin; Will Lilly Step Up?
• Behind the Byetta Crisis: Is This Drug Really All That and a Bag of (Fat-Free) Chips?