The race for an anti-obesity drug intensified Wednesday with the latest mid-stage trial data from Orexigen Therapeutics. The pharmaceutical company announced that its obesity drug Empatic demonstrated significant weight loss in a Phase IIb clinical trial.
Empatic combines the antidepressant Wellbutrin with the anti-seizure drug zonisamide. Approximately 60 percent of patients given the maximum dose of Empatic lost 5 percent of their body weight, compared to 14.7 percent for the placebo. Patients who completed the 24-week trial averaged 10 percent weight loss. The results exceeded U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements for weight control drugs.
Empatic is the second experimental weight loss drug from La Jolla, Calif.-based Orexigen. The other drug, Contrave, met its primary endpoint in a Phase III study announced in July.
Both Forbes and the Wall Street Journal have published reports about the increasingly fierce competition between Orexigen, Arena Pharmaceuticals, and VIVUS to secure approval for their respective weight-loss drugs. Forbes reports that Arena Pharmaceuticals met with skepticism following the release of positive Phase III data on lorcaserin. Some analysts noted that lorcaserin did not have the level of success that Orexigen and VIVUS had in clinical trials.
At the moment, analysts are touting VIVUS as the frontrunner. The company announced that patients taking the highest dose of Qnexa lost 10 percent of their body weight in a yearlong study. Patients in another study lost 11 percent of their weight. The company says it will apply for approval by the end of the year. Qnexa is a combination of the diet drug phentermine and the epilepsy drug topiramate.
Obesity is a risk factor for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. The worldwide market for obesity drugs is estimated at $1 billion.
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