Outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration said weight-loss benefits of Orexigen’s product, Contrave, exceed the dangers of elevated pulse and blood pressure and that a large study on cardiovascular risk can wait until after the drug is approved. There is currently just one anti-obesity drug on the market: Orlistat (Xenical, Alli), after Abbott, the maker of another drug sibutramine (Meridia) voluntarily agreed to remove it from the U.S. market in October because of increased risk of stroke and MI. January Deadline 
 
 Orexigen and partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., of Osaka, Japan, are scheduled to receive a decision from the FDA by Jan. 31. “Vivus is encouraged by Tuesday’s advisory committee meeting because it provides hope for patients that new medical treatments for obesity are seriously being considered by the FDA,” the company said today in an e-mail. Several physicians and other healthcare professionals contacted by MedPage Today/ABC News were pleased with the panel's decision and said that doctors badly need a new drug to help patients battle obesity. Contrave combines an antidepressant and an anti-addiction drug, both of which have been used individually for 20 years -- naltrexone for opioid addiction and alcohol dependence and bupropion for depression and smoking cessation. In all four trials, patients on the naltrexone/bupropion combination lost more weight than those in the placebo group (P<0.001), and more than 30% lost at least 5% of their body weight, which is one standard by which the FDA judges efficacy of weight-loss drugs. But the most impressive improvements in blood pressure and weight loss were seen among patients taking placebo who achieved more than a 5% weight loss, suggesting diet and exercise is the best option for obese patients to lower their blood pressure.
– A rarity in the weight wars: An FDA advisory panel gave the green light today to a diet pill that could become the first such drug to hit the market in more than a decade. The FDA is expected to make a final decision next month on Contrave, though it generally follows the advice of its panels. Made by Orexigen Therapeutics—whose shares were soaring, notes Bloomberg—Contrave has what MedPage Today describes has "modest" weight-loss effects. Panel members thought the benefit outweighed potential side effects such as high blood pressure. Contrave is a combination of two drugs already on the market: bupropion, an antidepressant also used to quit smoking, and naltrexone, which is used to treat addictions to alcohol and painkillers. One pharmacy professor tells MedPage Today he's sure it will be a huge success initially. "Time will ultimately tell if it is a good drug or not," he adds. "In the meantime, I'm going to let somebody else be the first to take it."