Exercise or Pills? Vivus (VVUS) Investors are Banking on Pills...

The general consensus is that Vivus' (Nasdaq: VVUS) Qnexa is a ridiculous drug which won't be approved by the FDA.

Here are some of the principal arguments floating around the Twitter-sphere:

• Studies also have obese people exercising, too.
  
  
• Political pressure is the most powerful argeement in favor of Qnexa.
  
  
• For $15,000 per year (or whatever it costs), someone could hire a trainer/nutritionist to address the underlying layers of obesity.

And so on.

As can be seen, many people on Twitter -- who are non-professionals in the drug world, we assume -- think that Qnexa shouldn't replace good, old-fashioned exercise. However, Qnexa may also help folks who are extremely obese to the point of not being able to exercise right out of the gate could benefit.

Currently, Vivus shares are halted as the meeting progresses. To see initial analysis from the committee members on today's panel, click here.

Those stocks that might see upside on disapproval include Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX) and Arena (Nasdaq: ARNA), which saw their submission for obesity pills rejected last year by the FDA.

On a lighter note, or should we say heavier, the general consensus is that McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Yum! (NYSE: YUM), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), and Nestle (OTCBB: NSRGF) will see a surge upon approval.

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