Obesity drugs in clinical development

Abstract

A number of anti-obesity drugs are currently undergoing clinical development. These include: (i) centrally-acting drugs, such as the noradrenergic and dopaminergic reuptake inhibitor radafaxine, the endocannabinoid antagonist rimonabant, the selective serotonin 5-HT2c agonist APD-356, and oleoyl-estrone; (ii) drugs that target peripheral episodic satiety signals, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (exenatide, exenatide-LAR and liraglutide), peptide YY (intranasal PYY3-36 and AC-162325) and amylin (pramlintide); (iii) drugs that block fat absorption, such as the novel lipase inhibitors cetilistat and GT-389255; and (iv) a human growth hormone fragment (AOD-9604) that increases adipose tissue breakdown. Of these, only rimonabant has got as far as completing phase III clinical trials. This review will provide an overview of the most prominent drugs currently undergoing clinical development as potential anti-obesity therapies.