More info on the 3 horse race...

We had a nice little lull in news concerning the three horse race between Orexigen, Vivus, and Arena for FDA approval on a new weight loss drug. Here is some additional information from the New York Times on each product and its chances: Assessing the Diet Drugs...

As I had said before, Vivus looks to be the front runner in terms of effectiveness but I would hold off in favor of Arena's Lorcaserin because of fewer safety concerns.

In other news Novartis got hit with a delay on its potential blockbuster COPD drug, QAB149, because the FDA wants additional information on planned dosing regimens. I don't think this will end up hurting Novartis that much because they aren't relying on this drug to carry them through the next year. Seems more like a little bump in the road on the way to a major approval. Read more here from ABC news


Finally, here's a company that was spinning its wheels in the last year that seems to have some promise of life: Javelin Pharmaceuticals. As noted at BioMedReports.com, Javelin has two promising product candidates that could prove to be big time sellers. The first is Dyloject (injectable Diclofenac Sodium), the second is Ereska (intranasal Ketamine). Both are to be used in patients with post-surgical pain, and while I'm not usually a huge proponent of recycling older medications, I think the delivery platforms used by Javelin have a lot of potential. BioMedReports advises jumping on board while you can and Javelin is cheap...not bad advice I think...

Javelin Product Candidates

BioMedReports.com Article