The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has given positive opinion as a non-prescription product to GlaxoSmithKline’s alli (orlistat 60 mg). This takes the product to the stage of proposal for final approval by the European Commission. A marketing authorization will follow that. On the grant of license, alli 60 mg would become the first aid for weight loss to be available without prescription across Europe. It will be indicated for people above the age of 18 with a BMI more than 28 kg/m2.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has made a recommendation to the European Commission (EC) for suspending Acomplia’s marketing authorization temporarily for the treatment of obese patients. The regulatory body concluded that the risks of Acomplia outweigh its benefits. Side effects such as depression have been a part of the warnings ever since the product was authorized in 2006. Sanofi-aventis is complying with the order, but believes that its product will continue to be an effective treatment.

A recent research conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has concluded that obese patients can consider bariatric surgery for reducing the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. This is the first ever study to take into account validated scores for cardiovascular risk on a patient population and compare them with previous results. The results showed that cardiovascular risk was reduced by up to 79 per cent.

Researchers from Vitagenes (a company that is a  part of the Campus program promoted by the University of Granada) in collaboration with some Australian scientists have discovered a new pattern/model of the molecule called interleukin-6 that may prove to be a boon for the patients suffering from obesity and diabetes. It was injected daily for two weeks. Then, its behavior and effects on the metabolism were analyzed. It was found that the molecule can help in development of drugs that can be beneficial in preventing and treating obesity. The study has been carried out on animals.

Researchers are studying the case of a 27-year-old woman who developed a vitamin deficiency after failing to take multivitamins post- gastric bypass surgery. After two months of an uncomplicated surgery for weight loss at the University College Hospital, London she suffered from dizziness, vomiting and low-appetite. Also, prescribed lansoprazole (drug for prevention of acid production in stomach), the patient was found to be deficient in these medications. Only after physicians administered thiamine (Vitamin B1), the patient recovered.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. reviewed that Empatic™, the drug in its investigational stage, has proven to reduce the body weight of obese people, who had undergone year-long treatment without any diet and exercise, by 15%. Also, the company has presented some data on Contrave® that shows a 50% reduction in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, from baseline, in patients of obesity. Both these products, in their development phase, have high potential of solving obesity problems.

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University have found a fat precursor cell that may explain how the number of fat cells might increase and cause obesity. The white adipocyte progenitor cells that have been identified can help us know the factors which control the differentiation and spread of fat. A technique called fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) was brought into use to find out cell populations which could generate fat.

Leading pharmaceutical developer Merck & Co., Inc. will not be seeking regulatory approval for taranabant, an investigational drug, for the treatment of obesity. The company is going to discontinue its Phase III clinical development program. The available data from Phase III of the trial indicated that both effectiveness and incidence of adverse events were related to dosage, efficacy being greater and adverse events more in the higher doses. After taking this into account, the company determined that the overall profile of taranabant did not support the case for further development of the medication.