Eastbourne Capital Management, which along with Carl Icahn has been in a contentious dispute with management at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN), said it and the billionaire investor have succeeded in getting directors elected to the drug maker's board.

It wasn't clear how many of the five contested seats they won; however, a source familiar with the situation but not associated with Amylin, Icahn or the proxy solicitor said Eastbourne and Icahn appear to have taken two seats while three others were too close to call.

Calls to Amylin and Icahn weren't immediately returned. A press release from Eastbourne said a preliminary report on the results is expected in one to two weeks.

Amylin's shares recently traded at $11.82, up 6.9%. The stock price has lost more than two-thirds of its value since August.

Icahn has protested the steep drop in Amylin's share price that began when news of patient deaths led the Food and Drug Administration to start working with Amylin and marketing partner Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) to add stronger warnings about severe pancreatitis to the label of diabetes-drug Byetta.

Amylin has said its board candidates are better suited to exploit the potential of its proposed diabetes drug Exenatide LAR, a new version of Byetta that would be taken once a week rather than injected twice a day. Approval is being sought from the FDA for Exenatide LAR, a potential blockbuster drug.

Icahn and Eastbourne, working separately, each nominated five directors for Amylin's 12-member board earlier this year. Then, fears that gaining a majority of the board would trigger a "poison put" on some of the company's debt forced the two to work together, and they eventually settled on three of Eastbourne's nominees and two of Icahn's.

The dissidents have gotten strong support from well-known proxy advisory firms, which hold a major influence on shareholders.

Before the meeting, the Icahn/Eastbourne slate also won the backing of P. Schoenfeld & Associates, which owned 2.1 million Amylin shares as of the end of the first quarter. The hedge-fund company said Amylin has mismanaged cash flow and the marketing of Byetta. It also took issue with the "poison put" provision in Amylin's debt covenants that could force the company to immediately pay off certain debt if a majority of Amylin's board is replaced.

Last month, Amylin reported a narrower first-quarter loss as revenue slid 1.8%. The company said it restructured its Byetta operations with Lilly and amended their collaboration agreement to require a one-year notice for termination without cause, up from the previous six-month notice.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com