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FDA Requests Belviq Be Pulled From The US Market Due To Cancer Risk

 
• By Jessica Merrill

The agency requested the weight loss pill be voluntarily recalled by Eisai, the death knell for a trio of obesity drugs that launched early in the last decade. 

The US Food and Drug Administration has requested that Eisai Co. Ltd. voluntarily withdraw the obesity pills Belviq and Belviq XR (lorcaserin) from the US market because of an increased risk of cancer. The announcement on 13 February comes after Eisai demonstrated the cardiovascular safety of Belviq in an outcomes trial, but that same trial showed an increased risk of cancer occurrence.

The FDA issued an alert in January notifying the public that it was assessing the safety of Belviq for a...

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