Orexigen falls after LIGHT update and trial termination

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX) shed $0.93 (14%) to $5.93 after an updated interim analysis of the LIGHT cardiovascular outcomes trial of Contrave naltrexone/buproprion showed that the obesity drug may not have a CV benefit after all. The company said the trial would be terminated.

On Tuesday, the Cleveland Clinic and Steve Nissen, chair of the trial's executive steering committee and a cardiologist at the clinic, issued detailed data as part of a planned interim analysis of the first 50% of major cardiovascular events (MACE). The data showed that Contrave did not significantly reduce the risk of MACE, with 90 events in the Contrave arm vs. 102 events in the placebo arm (HR=0.88; 95% CI: 0.66, 1.17). ...