Orexigen Therapeutics has set out to recruit the 10,000 participants that it requires for the cardiovascular risk study of Contrave, its lead weight loss drug candidate. We have written about Contrave before and you may remember that the license application for the combination of bupropion and naltrexone was rejected by the FDA last year along with that of Qnexa and Lorcaserin. Lorcaserin has subsequently been approved and we expect Qnexa to get approval next month. It may seem unfair that Orexigen has had to go to the additional expense of this cardiovascular risk study but you need to remember that both heart rate and blood pressure rose when patients had Contrave administered, so this study is probably justified.
If you are an American resident and you are overweight with a cardiovascular risk factor then you may be eligible for the trial. Further details are here.