Abbott's weight-loss drug to be reviewed by FDA panel

Quoted from http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100806/NEWS03/100809909/abbotts-weight-loss-drug-to-be-reviewed-by-fda-panel

Abbott's weight-loss drug to be reviewed by FDA panel

August 06, 2010 

(Reuters) — Abbott Laboratories' weight loss drug Meridia will be reviewed by an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on September 15, the company said on Friday.

The meeting will take place a day before the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee is scheduled to review lorcaserin, an experimental obesity drug being developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eisai Co Ltd.

Abbott suspended European sales of Meridia, or sibutramine, in January after a recommendation by regulators that heart-related risks made the prescription drug too dangerous.

Abbott spokesman Scott Davies said on Friday that Abbott reiterates its view of Meridia's "positive risk/benefit profile" when used in the patient population for which the drug is approved.

Meridia's global sales were about $300 million in 2009.

An FDA panel last month voted to recommend that a weight loss drug called Qnexa, being developed by Vivus Inc., not be approved by the agency due to concerns that it could cause depression, memory loss and potential birth defects if used among millions of overweight or obese Americans.