• Sheila A Doggrell.
• Queensland University of Technology, School of Life Sciences, GPO Box 2334, QLD 4001, Australia. sheila.doggrell@qut.edu.au
• Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2009 Jul 1;18(7):1043-6.

BackgroundThe incidence of obesity is increasing; this is of major concern, as obesity is associated with cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, respiratory tract disease, and cancer.Objectives/MethodsThis evaluation is of a Phase II clinical trial with tesofensine in obese subjects.ResultsAfter 26 weeks, tesofensine caused a significant weight loss, and may have a higher maximal ability to reduce weight than the presently available anti-obesity agents. However, tesofensine also increased blood pressure and heart rate, and may increase psychiatric disorders.ConclusionsIt is encouraging that tesofensine 0.5 mg may cause almost double the weight loss observed with sibutramine or rimonabant. As tesofensine and sibutramine have similar pharmacological profiles, it would be of interest to compare the weight loss with tesofensine in a head-to-head clinical trial with sibutramine, to properly assess their comparative potency. Also, as teso fensine 0.5 mg increases heart rate, as well as increasing the incidence of adverse effects such as nausea, drug mouth, flatulence, insomnia, and depressed mode, its tolerability needs to be further evaluated in large Phase III clinical trials.

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