Shares of Vivus soared more than 70 percent Wednesday after the Mountain View company announced test data showing that obese patients who took its experimental drug Qnexa lost up to nearly 15 percent of their weight without the severe side effects that have derailed some other weight-loss treatments.
Some analysts speculated the drug could win quick approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and claim a sizable niche in the worldwide obesity-drug market, which some experts say could hit $10 billion over the next few years.
The study data "has shifted the landscape for the treatment of obesity to a new level," analyst Michael King Jr. of Merriman Curhan Ford said in a note to his clients.
Vivus, which plans to ask the FDA later this year to approve Qnexa for sale as a treatment for obesity, said its tests of the medication in 3,754 obese men and women turned up no serious side effects, and it was highly effective at reducing their weight during the 56-week studies.
More than one-third of U.S. adults — more than 72 million men and women — and 16 percent of U.S. children are considered obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obese people have an excessive amount of body fat, usually defined as 25 percent in men and 30 percent in women.
Weight loss drug from Mountain View company shows early promise – San Jose Mercury News
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That is interesting but I have a couple of questions. What went along with the drug. Most of the weightloss supplements that are advertised mention, in very small print, that it needs to be used in conjunction with a ‘sensible diet’ (never specified) and exercise (also never specified.) I have also never seen one of these which showed a comparison of what the results would be between the sensible diet and exercise program alone and one that included the supplement or drug. I didn’t see it in the part of the report you included. If it didn’t work any better than exercise and diet alone, I would have to say ‘why bother?’
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Mary – no doubt IF the drug is approved and comes to market and that’s a big if…it will include a sensible diet and exercise. I’ve never heard of a diet that doesn’t. Obviously not everyone follows a sensible diet and exercises on a routine basis or we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic that we do. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to be 40 -50 or more pounds overweight. There is a need for a safe weight loss drug. If a person can lose more weight while taking the drug versus diet and exercise alone I think that’s beneficial. At least that’s my take on it.