The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a new drug application from Orexigen for its investigational drug Contrave to treat obesity.

The application is based on four randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled trials as part of the Contrave Obesity Research clinical programme involving 4,500 patients.

Contrave aims to address behavioural and physiological drivers of obesity and has shown in trials that it can help obese patients initiate and sustain weight loss and increase the ability to control eating.

The drug targets a central pathway involved in controlling the balance of food intake and metabolism, controlling the balance of food intake and metabolism, and regulating reward-based eating behaviour.