Orexigen® (Nasdaq: OREX) Announces FDA Agreement on a Special Protocol Assessment for the Contrave® Outcomes Trial

Palm Beach, FL 2/6/12 (StreetBeat) -- Orexigen®Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX) today announced that it has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for the Contrave® outcomes trial. On January 31, 2011, the Company received a Complete Response Letter to its New Drug Application (NDA) noting a single approval deficiency related to cardiovascular safety, requiring Orexigen to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cardiovascular outcomes trial prior to approval. The objective of the trial is to demonstrate that Contrave does not unacceptably increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The Company plans to initiate the Contrave outcomes trial late in the second quarter of 2012.

"We are pleased to receive agreement on the SPA from the FDA after just one cycle of review," said Michael Narachi, President and CEO of Orexigen. "A few months ago, we received detailed written correspondence from the FDA's Director of the Office of New Drugs that identified a clear and feasible path forward for this important potential obesity therapy. We believe the rapid progress we have since made with the FDA's Division of Metabolic and Endocrinologic Products on the detailed protocol and plans for analysis is further indication of the alignment we have reached within the FDA on the requirements for resubmission of the Contrave NDA."

As previously outlined, approximately 10,000 patients will be enrolled in this streamlined trial which is focused on capturing infrequent MACE events. An interim analysis and NDA resubmission is planned once approximately 87 MACE events have occurred, which is anticipated to be less than two years from the start of the trial. If marketing approval is received for Contrave, the trial will continue toward the final analysis in the post-approval setting.

The Company plans to provide more details on the trial design and protocol on its fourth-quarter and year-end 2011 conference call in early March.

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