Arena Pharmaceuticals' lorcaserin NDA: FDA assigns PDUFA date

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of October 22, 2010, for the review of the lorcaserin New Drug Application (NDA). The acceptance of the lorcaserin NDA filing confirms that the application is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review, and the PDUFA date is the goal date for the FDA to complete its review of the NDA.

Lorcaserin is Arena's internally discovered and developed drug candidate for weight management, including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, and is intended for obese patients or overweight patients with at least one weight-related co-morbid condition.

Jack Lief, Arena's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "With an October PDUFA date for the lorcaserin NDA, we are another step closer to our goal of improving the treatment of obesity. We believe that lorcaserin, if approved, will be well positioned as first-line therapy to help patients achieve sustainable weight loss in a well-tolerated manner."

The NDA is based on a data package from lorcaserin's development program that includes 18 clinical trials totaling 8,576 patients. The pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial program, BLOOM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management) and BLOSSOM (Behavioral modification and LOrcaserin Second Study for Obesity Management), evaluated nearly 7,200 patients treated for up to two years. In both trials, lorcaserin produced statistically significant weight loss with excellent safety and tolerability.

SOURCE Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.