Novo’s weight-loss shot wins backing of U.S. advisers

A weight-loss drug from Novo Nordisk helped people get thinner, U.S. regulators said, as the Danish drugmaker became the latest to push a pharmaceutical remedy for America’s obesity woes.

Novo's injectable drug, to be named Saxenda, helped 60 per cent of patients studied lose at least 5 per cent of their weight and 31 per cent lose more than 10 per cent, according to a report by FDA staff.

Drugmakers are trying to produce new weight-loss medicines even as sales for previously approved obesity pills have fallen short of estimates. Belviq, a drug from Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai, was approved in June 2012, the first such treatment cleared in 13 years. Belviq was followed three weeks later by Vivus' Qsymia.

But high out-of-pocket costs kept patients away and sales didn't meet analyst expectations.

The newest treatments may finally spur consumer acceptance, said Charles Duncan, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. "Being first was not good because there was virtually zero reimbursement for drug-based therapy before," he said. "There needed to be a kind of change in the attention towards obesity and the usefulness of a drug for that."

Many private insurers place Qsymia and Belviq in the third tier of medicines they'll cover, meaning patients pay a large chunk of the bill out of their own pockets. Government insurance programmes such as Medicare and Medicaid don't pay for the drugs. Duncan anticipates coverage will expand if Orexigen's weight-loss drug, known as NB32, is approved.

The FDA is expected to decide whether to clear Saxenda for sale by the end of next month. The drug goes by the chemical name liraglutide and Novo already sells it as a diabetes treatment under the name Victoza to help adults with Type 2 diabetes control blood-sugar levels.