Drug companies have a nose (spray) for weight loss
September 28, 2004
Could squirting a little medicine up the nose before mealtime help people shed pounds? Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. appears to be betting on it, with a multimillion-dollar partnership with a company that last year began small-scale testing of a nasal spray designed to make the stomach feel full faster.
Dr. Steven C. Quay, chairman, president and chief executive of Nastech Pharmaceutical of Bothell, Wash., said that if further testing of the drug goes well, it could reduce patients' daily calorie intake by 30 percent. It would translate into an approximate 50-pound weight loss over a year, he said.
PYY, whose full name is Peptide YY 3-36 Nasal Spray, is based on a hormone made by the intestines that travels through the bloodstream to the brain, telling it that the body is full about 30 to 45 minutes after a person starts eating.
Nastech's version, sprayed into the nose, would allow the drug to move through the nasal lining and into the bloodstream, telling the brain the body is full within 20 to 35 minutes.
PYY has undergone preliminary testing on 60 people with favorable results, Nastech said.
Source:www.newsday.com
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