Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA)

[windansea]

Century: Thanks for posting Dr. Daniels explanation. I have been in the NIH Diabetes Prevention Study
http://ndep.nih.gov/media/dpp-fact-sheet-508.pdf
for the past 17 years. When I joined 17 years ago I was headed
down the path to become a Type-2 Diabetic just like my dad - this study literally changed my life. The original program
started out with about 10,000 participants broken up into 4 groups.
approx 2,500 on Metformin,
approx 2,500 on troglitazone,
approx 2,500 on placebo
approx 2,500 on "Lifestyle Change".
Luckily, I was randomized into the "Lifestyle Change" group which required that I loose 7% of my body weight (= 14 pounds)
and do 150 minutes of exercise a week (I started playing soccer again). After about 2 years the troglitazone group was cancelled
because the drug was causing organ failures. Then in the 4th year, the study was halted early because the data showed that the
Lifestyle Change group were having such outstanding results compared to the metformin and placebo groups. A follow on "Outcomes" study was immediately funded to keep track of the remaining participants and I am in the 13th year of that.
The most important thing this study tracks is the weight of each participant. (Annual visits also record blood pressure, an EKG test, retinal eye photos,tests for neuropethy in feet, etc) I have tried to publish the chart I got on my last 6 month visit which shows my own % weight gain/loss, the San Diego group's average % weight gain/loss, and the national group's average % weight gain/loss, but IHub tells me the file is too big.
The chart shows that even with all the motivation and councelling help that Lifestyle study members get, weights have been gradually
creeping up - because everybody is getting older. This weight gain is less than the average weight gain of all adult Americans, but is still going up. I have been doing really well at holding my weight at goal because I personally witnessed how diabetes made the last three years of my dad's life so sad and miserable. But it is really hard to do this by diet and exercise alone. I had to quite soccer 2 years ago because of the sciatica injuries that I experienced + a tweeked ankle I got from running
into a gopher hole on the soccer field that somebody camouflaged with grass and sand. So all I can do now is take long walks and ride my bike.
If Belviqe will help me keep my weight down, I will ask for a perscription on the basis of being a pre-diabetic, and I know my primary care doctor will write it for me because he has been following my blood sugar levels (which are better now than in 1996) since I joined the study.
I hope ARNA uses some of its cash to design a PHASE III study for diabetes prevention/amelioration so it can capture some the money being spent on metformin and insulin today. GLTA