Experimental Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug in Clinical Trials

Diabetes and fatness are closely linked, and many diabetics struggle to come their doctor's orders to throw away weight. The biopharmaceutical company Vivus hopes to emporium an investigational new drug, Qnexa, in the same manner with both a weight loss drug and a diabetes medication.

 

Qnexa is in phasis 3 clinical trials to treat obesity, and in phase 2 clinical progress to maturity for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and rest apnea. The most recent clinical essay of Qnexa as a weight damage drug resulted in an average 10 percent measure loss in study participants.

 

Qnexa is a connection of the appetite suppressant phentermine, (most expedient. see the various meanings of good known as the "phen" in moor-phen, a controversial weight loss unsalable article that was pulled off the place of traffic in 1997), and the anticonvulsant topiramate, prescribed to negotiate epilepsy and prevent migraine headaches.

 

Qnexa was denied approval in slow 2010, when the FDA expressed concerns approximately a slightly increased risk of unprosperous psychiatric and cardiovascular events, and questioned the potentiality of birth defects in pregnant women captivating the drug.

 

More than 2400 patients took interest in the latest study. Study participants were totality clinically obese, and also suffered from two or more secondary medical conditions like as diabetes or heart disease. Patients likewise saw improvements in high blood impression, cholesterol and A1C levels (glycated hemoglobin). High A1C levels signify high levels of blood glucose in diabetics.

 

Shares of Vivus accept increased up to sixteen percent in rate highly since the latest study results were released.  If approved, Qnexa would be the first new weight loss put ~s into on the market in more than ten years. Currently, the sole FDA approved prescription weight loss drug is orlistat (Zenical). Orlistat prevents the material part from absorbing the fat in cheer, and is known for unpleasant border effects such as loose, oily stools, fecal lewdness and flatulence.

 

A second weight-waste drug manufacturer, Orexigen, is also struggling to earn FDA approval for their new diet remedy, Contrave. Contrave is a combination of bupropion (the antidepressant Wellbutrin, in like manner marketed as the smoking cessation abet Zyban) and naltrexone, an opiate adverse party prescribed to treat narcotic and pure spirit addiction. Contrave is designed to hindrance food cravings, and proved effective than Qnexa in provisions of weight loss.

 

Contrave passed a greater hurdle in late 2010 when ~y FDA advisory committee voted 13-7 against its approval, but the FDA disagreed in early 2011, asking for a new clinical suit evaluating the drug's cardiovascular risks.

 

Arena Pharmaceutical's Lorcaserin was the third diet drug to fail to gain over FDA approval in 2010, when the FDA deemed that preservation concerns outweighed the drug's "marginal effectiveness".