A popular diet drug pulled off the market a decade ago could make a comeback. Phen-fen was pulled following reports of heart valve problems.
They were dubbed weight-loss wonder drugs. The prescription phen-fen arrived in the early 1990's, proving to be the most potent appetite suppressant ever to hit the market.
"It was so successful at inducing weight loss that clinics rose up around the country solely devoted to prescribing phen-fen," said Dr. Bryan Roth, University of North Carolina.
Heart valve problems appeared in some patients, leading the FDA to pull the diet drug cocktail. Drug maker Wyeth faced legal claims that would total billions, and said it had no plans to bring the drug back to market. It seemed the phen-fen run was over.
"They basically dropped that drug, and unless the mechanism is bloody obvious, they don't pursue it," said Dr. Roth.
Roth and his team at the University of North Carolina are studying the drug. Roth has one of the few labs around the country that analyzes drug side effects, and was the first to tackle the mechanism behind phen-fen's dangerous heart effects.
"It was a serotonin receptor. It was found specifically in the heart," he said.
That discovery has been confirmed, resurrecting the possibility of the return of phen-fen.
"You could make drug that targets basically the healthy, or magic receptor for weight gain and misses the receptor for side effects," said Roth.
A number of companies are racing to do just that. One drug is now being tested in people. So far, safety data looks good.
"If it is safe, then that would be a major advance," said Roth.
The first of the reformulated phen-fen drugs could hit doctor's offices within the next three years.
