Feb 21- European health regulators for a second time rejected a diet pill developed by Vivus Inc and said the obesity treatment would not be approved there unless the company conducts a large lengthy trial to prove its heart safety, Vivus said on Thursday.
It was sold legally before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gained the power to regulate drugs in 1938.. It was widely used to treat weight-loss during World War Two and afterwards, but was eventually banned as an obesity medication by the FDA in 1979..
Jan 22- Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc said the European health regulator had raised concerns with the company's obesity drug, Belviq, sending its shares down as much as 10 percent.
*Novo encouraged by recent U.S. obesity drug approvals. *Novo says 1 mln patients could make it a $6 bln product. While some in the industry are sceptical about using so-called GLP-1 diabetes drugs such as liraglutide to fight obesity, Novo's Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen believes the approach can offer cost-effective benefits.
Credit Suisse Securities LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Leerink Swann LLC will act as joint managers. The company hopes to file in late 2013, triggering a 10- month review process by the FDA. The FDA refused to approve the drug in February 2011.
Shares of Vivus Inc. tumbled Thursday after an analyst said Wall Street may be over-estimating gains from initial sales of the drug developer's obesity treatment Qsymia. THE BIG PICTURE: Qsymia, Vivus' only approved drug, launched in the U.S. in September.
Stocks finished higher for a second session Wednesday, led by techs, after Bernanke reiterated that the central bank stands ready to inject more stimulus and despite the Fed's latest lackluster "Beige Book" report.
U.S. stock index futures held their losses Wednesday ahead of a second day of Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
Short selling is never going to be a wildly popular investing practice, but it is perfectly legal and essential for the proper function of the capital markets. I asked a biotech short seller for his thoughts on why long investors seem so hostile to short sellers and whether this animosity will compel short sellers to be even more reluctant to voice their opinions publicly.