Vivus Offers One-Sided Story of Qnexa

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Vivus(VVUS) disclosed new, positive heart-risk data from a long-term study of the weight-loss drug Qnexa while omitting negative data from the same study.

Vivus issued a press release Monday claiming that Qnexa, among other things, reduced patients' dependence on blood pressure medicines and improved cholesterol levels. Vivus shares rose by as much as 16% intraday as investors regarded the new cardiovascular data as improving the odds that U.S. regulators might one day approve the weight-loss drug.

Other data, however, painting a less flattering portrait of Qnexa's heart-safety profile were omitted from Vivus' press release, even as they were presented to attendees Sunday at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting.

Vivus shares were up 48 cents, or 7.6% to $6.80 in recent trading.

"Our press release was meant to be an attention grabber that highlights information we regarded as relatively newsworthy," said Vivus President Peter Tam, when asked why certain Qnexa results were included or excluded from the company's press release.

Asked whether Vivus' press release on the new Qnexa data constituted selective disclosure, Tam replied, "It's a fair comment and something we'll take into consideration."

On Monday, Vivus reported that obese patients treated with mid- and high doses of Qnexa had decreases in triglycerides of 25.9% and 26.3%, respectively, compared to a 14.3% reduction for patients treated with a placebo. Results came from a two-year study of 675 obese patients known as "Sequel."

Similarly, treatment with a mid- and high dose of Qnexa yielded increases in HDL cholesterol -- so-called good cholesterol -- of 11.4% and 16.7%, respectively, compared to a 9.1% increase for placebo patients, according to Vivus' press release.

The Qnexa poster presented at the ACC meeting, however, explains that the improvements in triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels reported by patients taking the mid-dose of Qnexa were not statistically significant compared to placebo patients. Only the high-dose of Qnexa was able to demonstrate a statistically significant benefit over placebo.

Moreover, Vivus's press release omitted data from the study showing that patients treated with both doses of Qnexa reported statistically significant higher levels of LDL cholesterol, or so-called "bad" cholesterol levels relative to placebo patients.