Amylin Pharmaceuticals: Obesity treatment study yields positive results

SAN DIEGO A seven-month study of an investigational treatment for obesity has yielded positive results, Amylin Pharmaceuticals has announced.

Amylin announced Thursday that a 28-week, dose-ranging phase 2 study of a treatment combining pramlintide and metreleptin resulted in patients experiencing 11% weight loss, compared to 1.8% among patients taking placebo and about 5% among those taking either pramlintide or metreleptin alone.

“Despite their best efforts with diet and exercise alone, most overweight and obese individuals experience progressive weight gain over time,” Pennington Biomedical Research Center professor and assistant director of clinical research Steven Smith said in a statement. “To date, the only highly effective treatment option is surgical and limited to the minority of patients who have advanced to the most severe forms of obesity.”