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Finance Watch: In Obesity, Vivus Raises Cash For Deals, Orexigen Finds A Buyer

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Public Company Edition: Strategies diverge in obesity as Vivus restructures debt and raises cash for a new deal and new focus, after Orexigen nears a sale of the company via bankruptcy court. Also, Clovis leads recent offerings, while layoffs are on the table at Catabasis.

Finance Watch

The obesity market has not generated any blockbuster success stories for the biopharmaceutical industry, but Vivus Inc. still sells the prescription weight loss drug Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate) and recently raised cash so it can buy more products to keep its sales representatives busy.

Campbell, Calif.-based Vivus, unlike its peers in the obesity space, never hooked up with a partner to market its drug. And despite fears that it would never be able to succeed on its own, Vivus is the last company standing in the weight loss space out of itself, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc

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