The final decision about lorcaserin will be made later on this year.

Bad news for shareholders of Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc who were disappointed with the results of animal testing done on the new experimental weight loss medication lorcaserin. The clinical testing which has been presented to the American Food & Drug Administration is still under review, however a committee of independent advisors recently voted to recommend lorcaserin for refusal after noting that there were significant concerns regarding tumours being seen in rats using the drug.

The drug which Arena Pharmaceuticals were hoping would be the first new prescription diet medication in over ten years would have been a financial blockbuster for the company however many financial analysts are now predicting that lorcaserin is a nonstarter. It may be that over the next year Arena Pharmaceuticals will be able to show the FDA that lorcaserin is perfectly safe and that the evidence of cancer from the rat studies was not connected to the use of the drug however at the moment things are not looking good. The final decision about lorcaserin will be made later on this year.

Weight loss medications are multi billion dollar businesses in the United States which is dealing with the biggest obesity problem worldwide. It is estimated that more than 2/3 of American citizens have a weight problem.  There are at present three new diet pills in the pipeline which the FDA is reviewing but none of them are looking particularly promising at the moment.

The FDA is also being particularly strict about any new weight loss medications because of previous mistakes.  The FDA is also under a lot of pressure to follow the lead of the EMEA in Europe and restrict the sale of the appetite suppressant Reductil.

In the United Kingdom the only prescription weight loss medication available from doctors is Xenical however it is possible that Reductil will soon be available again.