A major shareholder of Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMLN) is backing a slate of dissident directors nominated by Carl Icahn and another hedge-fund manager, Eastbourne Capital Management.

P. Schoenfeld and Associates, which owned 2.1 million Amylin shares as of the end of the first quarter, told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday it supports all five of Icahn's and Eastbourne's nominees because it sees that as the only opportunity for the company to make significant strides.

"We would like to see the largest minority possible elected to the Amylin board," said P. Schoenfeld founder Peter Schoenfeld.

Schoenfeld has owned Amylin shares since the fourth quarter of 2008, and said the company has mismanaged cash flow, as well as the marketing of its Type 2 Diabetes drug, Byetta, which Schoenfeld sees as a strong drug that should be in the hands of more doctors. The hedge-fund company also takes issue with a "poison put" provision in the company's debt covenants that could force the company to immediately pay off certain debt if a majority of Amylin's board is replaced.

Icahn and Eastbourne, working separately, each nominated five directors to Amylin's 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 major influence on shareholders.

Founded by Peter Schoenfeld in 1997, P. Schoenfeld is a multi-strategy hedge-fund manager, and has invested in many merger-arbitrage and event-driven plays. Earlier this week, Schoenfeld wrote a proxy letter to Saks Inc. (SKS) shareholders urging them to withhold support for a board member and make other board-related corporate governance changes.

Amylin shares recently traded down 22 cents, or nearly 2%, to $11.01.

-By Joseph Checkler, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4297; joseph.checkler@dowjones.com