July 12, 2016 — Two fascinating new studies in the journal Diabetes provide new evidence for the importance of brain activity in obesity and its treatment. The first study documents significant differences in brain response to drinking sugar between adolescents who have obesity and adolescents who have a lean BMI. The second demonstrates how a new obesity treatment – lorcaserin – alters […]
June 17, 2016 — A new study published this week in JAMA provides useful perspective on the safety and efficacy of the newer obesity meds now available for managing the chronic disease of obesity. Rohan Khera and colleagues integrated the results for 29,018 patients in 28 published clinical trials and concluded: Among overweight or obese adults, orlistat [Alli, Xenical], […]
April 15, 2016 — Ample confusion and progress can be found right now in the work of developing and delivering new medications for obesity care. Though we have some good options for treating obesity, we have a tremendous gap of unmet need between the extremes of behavioral therapy and surgical treatments for obesity. Though four new obesity meds have […]
October 6, 2015 — Recent reports from business analysts are making it clear that Saxenda is succeeding in the market for obesity treatment where other competitors are struggling. Marketed by Novo Nordisk, Saxenda is the fourth new obesity drug treatment introduced in the last four years. The other three — Qsymia, Belviq, and Contrave — all seem to be […]
July 2, 2015 — The response to new data on obesity treatment — published today in the New England Journal of Medicine — gives us some flicker of hope that attitudes about obesity treatment are shifting. The publication is the 56-week pivotal safety and efficacy study of liraglutide for treating obesity. Xavier Pi-Sunyer and colleagues found that most (63%) […]
June 6, 2015 — It’s a bumpy ride right now for people who are trying to make a business of providing obesity care. This really applies to all segments — consumer weight management, medical obesity care, pharmaceuticals, surgery — but the most visible evidence of bumpiness is playing out in the pharmaceutical segment of obesity care. On one hand, […]
March 28, 2015 — As expected, Mysimba (naltrexone/bupropion, known as Contrave in the U.S.) became the second new obesity medicine to be fully approved for sale in Europe this week. This week broke a nine-year drought for new obesity medicines in Europe. Now analysts are busy trying to figure out who will be the winners in obesity treatment. Such […]
January 24, 2015 — Let’s just say it. European regulators were spooked by obesity drugs for quite a few years. So news that first buproprion/naltrexone (Contrave U.S./Mysimba EU) and now liraglutide (Saxenda) have been recommended for approval in Europe is good news indeed. What spooked the Europeans was the experience with rimonobant. The European Commission (EC) granted Sanofi approval for this obesity treatment in 2006, […]
December 10, 2013 — Two new obesity drugs — Belviq and Qsymia — have cleared formidable hurdles just gaining approval and at lease three more drugs appear to be on the way. But how can it be — with 100 million Americans affected by obesity — that uptake of these new treatments is painfully slow? The answer lies with […]
July 9, 2013 — Most observers of obesity drugs seem to be stuck between visions of boom or bust, with no tolerance for the reality that most likely lies between those two extremes. Obesity medicine physicians need more tools for treating obesity. But because obesity is a complex disease we barely understand, the notion of a breakthrough treatment is […]
