Orexigen(R) Initiates Second Phase IIb Empatic(TM) Trial o...( Orexigen is the only company with ...),Health

Orexigen is the only company with two late-stage product candidates to

address a broad spectrum of obesity patients

SAN DIEGO, July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Orexigen(R) Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX) announced today that it has begun randomizing patients in ZB-202, a second Phase IIb clinical trial for Empatic(TM), one of the Company's two late-stage obesity product candidates. The trial is designed to build on highly encouraging safety and efficacy results from a previous Phase IIb trial of Empatic, which demonstrated robust weight loss at 48 weeks ranging from approximately 11 percent to 15 percent in obese patients completing the trial and a discontinuation rate due to adverse events that was not significantly different than placebo.

"Initiation of ZB-202 is an important milestone for our Empatic program and the final anticipated step before moving into Phase III development," said Gary Tollefson, M.D., Ph.D., Orexigen President and CEO. "Empatic continues to be an important component of the Company's obesity program. Along with Contrave(R), now in Phase III clinical trials, these product candidates both have the potential to target a large, distinct and complementary segment within the obesity market."

Orexigen is the only company currently developing two late-stage product candidates to address the full spectrum of obesity ranging from mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe obesity. Obesity has become a national epidemic, with more than 70 million Americans classified as obese and 300,000 deaths a year attributable to obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Obesity is associated with a number of significant medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, high cho
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