Pfizer, Bayer Partner on Obesity Drugs

Arena Pharmaceuticals(ARNA Quote), is developing a drug called Lorcaserin, which supposedly works without the need for diet modification or exercise and avoids the cardiovascular side effects of Wyeth's(WYE Quote) notorious diet drug fen-phen, which was pulled from the market in 1997 because of safety concerns.

Nastech Pharmaceutical(NSTK Quote) is also developing a treatment for obesity which would be administered as a nasal spray, but concerns that the drug was ineffective caused Nastech's Big Pharma partner Merck(MRK Quote) to pull out of the deal earlier this year. Nastech intends to keep working on the drug.

With a number of fad diets, nutritional supplements and pharmaceutical drugs failing, obesity rates are continuing to expand, and Americans are still looking for another quick fix for the growing problem of their bulging bellies.

Surgical procedures, such as gastric bypass and gastric banding, have also grown more popular, though they're most often used after various other weight-loss methods have failed. The development of a more effective drug, of course, would reduce the need for these potentially dangerous procedures. The mortality rate for patients undergoing gastric bypass procedures is about 2%.