Vivus, Arena gain on obesity data

Shares of Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) gained on Monday after the companies reported additional Phase III data for their respective obesity candidates at the Obesity Society meeting in Washington. Vivus' Qnexa phentermine/topiramate led to significant weight loss regardless of baseline body mass index (BMI) vs. placebo in the Phase III EQUIP (OB-302) trial in 1,267 morbidly obese patients. Arena's lorcaserin significantly reduced HbA1c and improved quality of life at week 52 in the per protocol population (n=1,320) vs. placebo in the Phase III BLOOM trial. New data also showed that Lorcaserin-treated patients lost 31% of their excess weight compared with 12% for placebo at week 52. Vivus was up $0.62 to $9.80 on 21.7 million shares. Arena rose $0.17 to $4.51 on 16.1 million shares. ...