FDA Advisory Panel Rejects Lorcaserin Weight Loss Pills

Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 9-5 against recommending approval of an experimental diet drug known as lorcaserin manufactured by Arena Pharmaceuticals.

The panel of outside experts voted against the drug, and it now appears very unlikely that the FDA will approve the drug to be release in the market. The panel strategically analyzed the drug study data and they discovered that lorcaserin that did not outweigh the benefits, including cancer, tumors, and depression. The drug was proven to do more harm than to help people lose weight.

“I voted no because there’s too much uncertainty,” said Jessica Henderson, a professor at Western Oregon University who also served on the FDA committee.

As of now, there are only two prescription drugs in America approved for weight loss, and the San Diego, California-based Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., is trying to become the third drug approved by the U.S. as a prescription weight loss treatment.

The panel that rejects lorcaserin is the same panel who recommends FDA to remove the diet drug Meridia, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, in the market.
The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of the panelist, but they rarely go against them.

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