Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Dec 9, (THAINDIAN NEWS) For all those who want to shed those extra kilos, there is surely some good news. On Tuesday, an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration recommended the agency to give approval to the anti-obesity drug Contrave. Although there is nothing sacrosanct about the fact that FDA would have to take into consideration the recommendations of the advisory board, usually the agency follows the advice of the panel. The advisory panel’s backing of Contrave comes after two other anti-obesity drugs namely Qnexa and Lorcaserin were rejected by the board earlier this year.

Contrave is basically a combination pill which blends an anti-addiction drug with the anti-depressant bupropion and it is manufactured by the drugmaker Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. Whether the weight-loss pill would actually emerge as a boon to those who intend to get rid of the extra calories would be clear when the FDA takes a decision on it early next year. According to reports, FDA is slated to reach a decision on the weight-loss drug by January 31.

However, the approval of Contrave is not gaining wide support as experts have expressed concern about the health ramifications of the drug with many reiterating that the weight-loss pill might have an adverse affect on the heart of the patients. Meanwhile, the proponents of the drug have emphasized that the supposed risk that Contrave poses is convincingly outweighed by it health benefits. The studies that have been undertaken to ascertain the utility of the drug have pointed out that patients who are administered Contrave lose 4.2 per cent more wait than those who do not take the medicine.