Orexigen's Contrave closes gap with rivals

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX) reported $11.5 million in net U.S. sales of obesity drug Contrave naltrexone/ bupropion in 1Q15, its first full quarter on the market. The company had reported $6.5 million in 4Q14 sales; partner Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4502) launched the fixed-dose combination of naltrexone sustained release (SR) and bupropion SR on Oct. 20, 2014.

Uptake of Contrave continues to outpace that of competing obesity drugs shortly after their launch. In 4Q12, Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) reported net revenues of $2 million for Qsymia, a low-dose combination of phentermine and topiramate. Belviq lorcaserin from Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) and Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4523), a serotonin (5-HT2C) receptor agonist, had net sales of $5.4 million in 3Q13. ...