Vivus to Roll Out Key Obesity Drug Data

Obesity drug maker Vivus(VVUS Quote) is gearing up to release the first phase III data on its experimental weight loss drug ahead of an analyst meeting next week.

The pending results from two studies of Vivus' drug Qnexa is just the start of what promises to be an active 12 months in the race to develop the next generation of obesity drugs. Three small drug companies -- Vivus, Orexigen(OREX Quote) and Arena Pharmaceuticals(ARNA Quote) -- are all expected to release results from pivotal phase III clinical trials in 2009.

We live in fat world that is getting fatter, which has lured scores of drug companies to seek a lucrative treatment for obesity in the form of a simple pill. Unfortunately, currently marketed weight-loss pills aren't very effective or have particularly nasty side effects. The obesity drug market has also been beset with more serious safety issues like the heart damage caused by the popular "fen-phen" diet drug combination in the 1990s.

More recently, Sanofi-Aventis(SNY Quote) halted sales of the obesity drug rimonabant in Europe after regulators there concluded that the drug's benefits did not outweigh the risks -- a marked increase in psychiatric events such as depression and suicidal thoughts. Rimonabant was never approved for use in the U.S.

Vivus' Qnexa consists of two currently approved drugs, combined in a proprietary formulation to promote significant weight loss without dangerous side effects. One of the drugs is phentermine, a generic weight-loss drug still available. (And yes, it's the "phen" in fen-phen but it was "fen" or fenfluramine and not phentermine that was later discovered to be toxic drug in the combination.) The other drug in Qnexa is Johnson & Johnson's(JNJ Quote) topiramate, used to treat epilepsy and migraines.