Zafgen says obesity drug succeeds in late-stage study

[January 20, 2016]  (Reuters) - Zafgen Inc said its experimental obesity drug, on complete clinical hold since last month after the death of two patients, met its main goals in a late-stage study in patients with a rare genetic eating disorder.

Zafgen's report on the drug, released on Wednesday, includes data from 74 patients who completed the trial and 27 patients who completed at least 75 percent of the trial before U.S. health regulators placed a partial hold on studies in October after a patient died.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered in December that all trials on the drug be stopped after the death of a second patient.

Zafgen said on Wednesday it would present the FDA with the efficacy and safety data from the study, along with data from another trial and a proposal to mitigate the drug's risk.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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