Lorcaserin

What is Lorcaserin?

Lorcaserin hydrochloride (Lorcaserin) is an investigative weight loss drug by Arena Pharmaceuticals (Arena).

Arena Pharma believes that this promising new oral treatment for obesity can help patients effectively lose weight in a safe, well tolerated and efficacious manner.

Data of Lorcaserin trials demonstrated (there were 3,182 patients involved in a two-year treatment plan) that this weight loss pill helped patients achieve highly significant categorical and absolute weight loss in the first year, and continued treatment with Lorcaserin in the second year helped significantly more patients maintain their weight loss as compared to those on placebo.

Lorcaserin also improved other aspects of the cardiovascular risk profile, such as lipid levels, heart rate, and hsCRP levels, without increasing cardiotoxicity.

The drug did not cause heart valve damage or psychiatric side effects.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported on September 18 positive results from a Phase 3 clinical trial program of its obesity drug candidate Lorcaserin.

Clinical trials showed that nearly two-thirds of Lorcaserin patients lost a medically meaningful amount of body weight while avoiding unwanted side effects: about 47 percent of patients on Lorcaserin after one year of treatment lost 5 percent or more of their body weight compared with 25 percent of those taking a placebo.

Arena said it plans to seek U.S. approval for Lorcaserin in December.

How does Lorcaserin work?

Lorcaserin stimulates a receptor in the brain which regulates food intake, without binding to similar receptors that cause heart problems.

What are Lorcaserin side effects?

Lorcaserin was well tolerated. The most frequent adverse events in the lorcaserin group were headache (18%), upper respiratory infection (14.8%), and nasopharyngitis (13.4%).

Lorcaserin was not associated with an increase in depression or suicidal ideation.