-Contrave(R) Obesity Research Phase 3 Program Meets Co-Primary and Key Secondary Endpoints; Exceeds FDA Efficacy Benchmark for Obesity T...( ...),Health

SAN DIEGO, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Orexigen(R) Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX) today announced that all three remaining Phase 3 trials evaluating Contrave(R) (bupropion SR/naltrexone SR), its investigational drug for the treatment of obesity, met their co-primary endpoints. The results from the successfully completed Contrave Obesity Research, or COR, program of more than 4,500 patients exceed the FDA categorical efficacy benchmark for clinically significant weight loss, supporting the Company's plan to file a New Drug Application (NDA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the first half of 2010.

Key top-line data from the COR Phase 3 program include the following:

• 48.0% and 56.3% of patients on Contrave32(1) in COR-I (NB-301) and COR-II (NB-303) lost at least 5% of their body weight after 56 weeks, approximately three times the placebo categorical response rates of 16.4% and 17.1%, respectively (ITT, p<0.001).
• Contrave patients in COR-I and COR-II on Contrave32 had mean weight loss of 6.1% and 6.4% after 56 weeks, compared to 1.3% and 1.2% on placebo, respectively (ITT, p<0.001).
• In the COR-Diabetes (NB-304) trial, 44.5% of patients on Contrave32 lost greater than or equal to 5% of their body weight after 56 weeks, more than double the 18.9% of patients on placebo (p<0.001). Contrave patients also showed a 0.6% reduction in HbA1c from baseline, compared to a 0.1% reduction in placebo. This difference of 0.5% is clinically and statistically significant (ITT, p<0.001).
• Key secondary endpoints met across the entire COR Phase 3 program included significant improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors such as waist circumf
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