LOS ANGELES, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc shares jumped 38 percent after the company said it will hold a conference call early on Friday to discuss results from a second pivotal trial of its experimental obesity drug lorcaserin.
Earlier this year, the San Diego-based company said the first year-long trial found that lorcaserin patients, on average, lost 5.8 percent of their body weight, compared with average weight loss of 2.2 percent for placebo patients.
Lorcaserin works in a way similar to fenfluramine, which was part of the fen-phen diet cocktail before fenfluramine was withdrawn in 1997 after being linked to heart valve damage.
Arena's drug, like fenfluramine, is designed to block appetite signals in the brain, but is much more selective in the receptors it affects. Fenfluramine also binds to a separate cell receptor in the heart.
Asked about the after-hours stock rise, JMP Securities analyst Jason Butler said, 'its excitement before the data.'
Butler said he was surprised by the magnitude of the stock reaction because safety and efficacy data on the drug were already released earlier this year from another late stage trial.
'We would be surprised if the efficacy was significantly better or worse than in the first trial,' he said.
Arena has said it plans to file for regulatory approval of lorcaserin before the end of this year.
Arena shares, which rose nearly 1.9 percent to close at $4.91 on Nasdaq, were up another 38 percent at $6.77 after hours.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley; additional reporting by Ransdell Pierson; editing by Carol Bishopric)
(deena.beasley@thomsonreuters.com +1-213-955-6746; Reuters Messaging: deena.beasley.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: ARENA OBESITY/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Earlier this year, the San Diego-based company said the first year-long trial found that lorcaserin patients, on average, lost 5.8 percent of their body weight, compared with average weight loss of 2.2 percent for placebo patients.
Lorcaserin works in a way similar to fenfluramine, which was part of the fen-phen diet cocktail before fenfluramine was withdrawn in 1997 after being linked to heart valve damage.
Arena's drug, like fenfluramine, is designed to block appetite signals in the brain, but is much more selective in the receptors it affects. Fenfluramine also binds to a separate cell receptor in the heart.
Asked about the after-hours stock rise, JMP Securities analyst Jason Butler said, 'its excitement before the data.'
Butler said he was surprised by the magnitude of the stock reaction because safety and efficacy data on the drug were already released earlier this year from another late stage trial.
'We would be surprised if the efficacy was significantly better or worse than in the first trial,' he said.
Arena has said it plans to file for regulatory approval of lorcaserin before the end of this year.
Arena shares, which rose nearly 1.9 percent to close at $4.91 on Nasdaq, were up another 38 percent at $6.77 after hours.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley; additional reporting by Ransdell Pierson; editing by Carol Bishopric)
(deena.beasley@thomsonreuters.com +1-213-955-6746; Reuters Messaging: deena.beasley.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: ARENA OBESITY/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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