The US drug development company, Orexigen, has recently announced successful Phase II results for the trial of Excalia, its new weight loss medication. Patients treated over a 48 week period managed to lose an average of 12 per cent. of their body weight. The medication, which may not be available to be prescribed for around 4 years, uses two currently approved medications to target a specific reciprocally paired group of hypothalamic neurons to trick the hypothalamus (the area of the brain which regulates appetite, energy output and body weight) into keeping the metabolism running fast at the point where the body would normally make a compensatory adjustment for the effects of a reduction in body weight.

The medication contains Bupropion and Zonasimide, two currently approved medications used for the purposes of facilitating smoking cessation and the treatment of epilepsy. By using these two different drugs, Excalia offsets the body’s natural compensatory pathways and appears to help slimmers avoid hitting the weight loss plateau that they normally reach a few weeks into their new diet and exercise regime.

The results were recently announced at a conference organised by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. The company behind the drug is now recruiting patients for a larger scale clinical trial prior to filing for approval with the various drug licensing authorities around the world.