Orexigen Therapeutics (OREX) Defended at Leerink

Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX) was defended a Leerink amid controversy after the company's Light trial was halted. Comments follow criticism in Forbes, which may have triggered a sell-off in the stock. In the view of analyst Paul Matteis, Light data showed what was expected -- safety and a positive trend.

"After OREX and Takeda announced the termination of the LIGHT study this morning, a Forbes article just disclosed data from the 50% interim analysis of the LIGHT study. Consistent with our previously published expectations, the new hazard ratio (HR) of 0.88 is much closer to 1.0 than the prior HR of 0.59. This still implies a 12% Contrave benefit on cardiovascular (CV) events, which we believe represents considerable upside prior to concerns as the LIGHT study was an extra requirement imposed on OREX to prove that Contrave treatment is not deleterious to patients' CV health," said Matteis. "We continue to believe that a presentation and publication of the data will augment physician comfort with Contrave prescribing and help the launch over time."

Matteis continued, "New data at the 50% interim analysis show a HR of 0.88 (95% CI 0.66-1.17) which though greater than the previous HR at the 25% interim, still implies a 12% relative CV benefit over placebo. From our conversations with MEDACorp specialists, we expect physicians to conclude from these data that Contrave is CV safe and become more comfortable prescribing the drug to high risk obesity patients as a result. Notably, during the accrual of the second 25% of events, more CV events occurred in the Contrave arm than in the placebo arm. While it might be tempting to create a narrative around the way the data accrued (such as: "maybe Contrave was beneficial at first and over time became harmful"), we don't think it makes sense to do this, given the small number of events and the high discontinuation rate in the trial."

Leerink Partners has an Outperform rating on Orexigen Therapeutics with a price target of $11.00

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Orexigen Therapeutics click here. For more ratings news on Orexigen Therapeutics click here.

Shares of Orexigen Therapeutics closed at $6.86 yesterday.

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