Posts Tagged ‘Qsymia’

Europe Opens the Way for Two New Obesity Drugs

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, […]

Five Hurdles for Obesity Drugs

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 […]

Qsymia: One Pill or Two?

October 25, 2013 — Qsymia, one pill that combines phentermine (PHEN) and topiramate in an extended release formulation (TPM-ER), raises a question for doctors and pharmacists who have a preference for generic drugs. Can’t we just use generic phentermine or topiramate pills and get the same effect? Well, not exactly. First of all, a new study published for early […]

Obesity Drugs: Boom, Bust, or Reality?

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 […]

FDA Approves Expanded Pharmacy Distribution for Qsymia

April 17, 2013 — Vivus will be carefully expanding the distribution for their newly launched obesity treatment, Qsymia, with approval from the FDA. Until now, Qsymia was sold through a tightly controlled distribution system of mail order pharmacies. While that system may have been effective to assure safe use early in the drug’s introduction, it also created hardships for […]

Qsymia Scripts Rise with Increased Reimbursement

January 17, 2013 — Vivus, the company that developed Qsymia, recently announced that Qsymia prescriptions had risen 68% to 12,978 in the four-week period ending December 22. Investors greeted this news with enthusiasm, immediately driving the Vivus stock price 10% higher. Vivus has been under pressure since the late September Qsymia launch for underperforming versus tough Wall Street expectations. […]

#1 U.S. Pharmacy Plan Will Cover Obesity Treatment

December 20, 2012 — Another insurer jumped on the obesity coverage bandwagon, which means more good news for people seeking treatment options. Vivus announced its drug, Qsymia, will now be covered by ExpressScripts, the largest U.S. pharmacy benefits manager. Express Scripts will carry Qsymia in its national formulary as a standard option, meaning patients who go through ExpressScripts as […]

Improving Coverage for Obesity Treatment

November 29, 2012 — November 29, 2012 — The recent approval of two new obesity medications was good news for patients with obesity, but scant health insurance reimbursement of the products has limited physician prescribing and patient use. The news that Aetna, the third largest U.S. insurer, will provide coverage for these drugs marks another important step forward.

Slow Build for New Obesity Drug (Good News)

November 13, 2012 — November 13, 2012 — The first quarter in which new obesity drug, Qsymia, has been available ended October 31, and sales, unsurprisingly, are nowhere near the eventual level expected.

Surprisingly, Insurers Cover 30% of Qsymia Rx’s in First Week

October 3, 2012 — October 3, 2012 — Qsymia is the first new prescription weight loss medication on the market in over 10 years, and many, including the innovator company Vivus, thought that this new medication would not be reimbursed by health plans. Payers and many experts were surprised then, by the news that Qsymia was covered by health […]