U.S. regulators have greenlighted a new weight-loss drug called Contrave, the third in a string of approvals for prescription medications aimed at the nation’s 78 million obese adults.
The pill, Contrave, is a combination of two drugs that are already approved, naltrexone and bupropion. Naltrexone is used to treat alcohol and narcotic dependence. Bupropion is an antidepressant also used to help people quit smoking.
Contrave joins two similar drugs from Arena Pharmaceuticals and Vivus Inc. which FDA approved in 2012 after a 13-year drought of new prescription weight-loss medicines. Analysts initially predicted those drugs would garner up to $1 billion in annual sales, considering that more than one-third of all U.S. adults are obese. But sales of Vivus’ Qsymia and Arena’s Belviq have been far below expectations due to limited insurance coverage and high out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Also on Thursday, FDA advisers said Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Victoza should be approved for a new use in treating obesity. The panel voted 14-1 that the injectable drug’s benefits outweigh its risks for patients who are obese or dangerously overweight.
The FDA first approved Victoza in 2010 as a daily injection to help control type 2 diabetes. The drug is part of a new class of medicines called GLP-1 agonists, which spur the pancreas to create extra insulin after meals. People with diabetes have trouble breaking down food into energy due to problems producing or using insulin.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk now wants the FDA to approve the drug as an obesity treatment based on company studies showing significant weight loss in most patients.
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