What Arena Pharmaceuticals Needs To Say To The May 10 FDA Advisory Committee

Joseph Krueger submits: Before the FDA review panel’s of Vivus’s (VVUS) drug Qnexa, I expressed significant doubt that the panel review would be positive based primarily on the safety issues surrounding one of its ingredients topiramate here.

By Scott Matusow:The FDA on Tuesday approved the weight loss drug Qsymia (formerly known as Qnexa) from Vivus Inc (VVUS). Many consider the pill to be more effective than Arena's (ARNA) recently FDA approved weight loss drug Belviq, but potentially the more dangerous of the two.

By Helix Investment Management:In the biotechnology sector, the market often chooses to focuses on a particular disease targeted for treatment, such as cancer, or hepatitis C. In addition to those diseases, there is currently a very sharp focus on obesity treatments.

Sheff Station submits:October has been called the Super Bowl or World Cup of biotech approvals in the investing world. Whatever you want to call it, investors will be watching closely as many companies will have their drugs reviewed by the FDA for approval. This is often-times a turning point in a small biotech company's history in regards to whether or not they get approved or denied.

Tro Kalayjian submits:Vivus (VVUS), a specialty pharmaceutical company, has faced some setbacks with its drug candidate, Qnexa, an investigational treatment for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea and diabetes. In October 2010, Vivus received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA, outlining a path to approval, which left investors who expected approval dissappointed.

Zacks.com submits: Recently, VIVUS Inc. (VVUS) announced encouraging phase II results from a study conducted with Qnexa for the treatment of patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea ((OSA)).

By Bio Vantage:VIVUS Inc. (VVUS) and Arena Pharmaceutical (ARNA) are front runners in the development of weight-loss drugs. The rollercoaster rides for both stocks over the past two years demonstrate the volatility of small cap biotech stocks without commercial products. The FDA finally approved ARNA's Belviq (lorcaserin) on June 27, 2012.

Jason Chew submits: The success of Orexigen’s (OREX) weight loss drug, Contrave, with the FDA advisory panel highlights an important area in drug development - repositioning. Orexigen accomplished this by combining the off-patent drugs bupropion and naltrexone in a novel, single-pill, fixed-dose formulation.