By Assaf Maliki
Bizportal
September 4, 1996

Obecure, which is developing weight control treatment and portfolio company of the Bio-Light Group, has received approval by the FDA to begin PHASE II clinical trials of its flagship drug OBE 101, designed to treat obesity.

Obecure has enlisted 20 major medical research centers across the United States, and is in the process of preparing to recruit subjects for the trials.

Obecure scientists have decided in consultation with the company it has retained to manage the clinical trials, to schedule the trials beginning in January – after the holiday celebration season, in which people tend to indulge and overeat, which they feared would skew the results.

Dr. Yaffa Beck, Obecure CEO, said today: “The beginning of the second phase of human clinical trials marks and important mileston in Obecure's development. The trials will investigate the efficacy of our flagship drug, OBE 101, which is designed to reduce weight in the obese population. At the same time, Obecure is developing additional products in the area of weight control, which will widen the range of the company's products, with some of them already preparing for trial in the U.S. and Canada.”

Obecure continues to explore various sources of funding for the further development of the company's products. It believes that receiving FDA approval for these clinical trials will assist greatly in this process.

Obecure is developing a number of products, developed by Dr. Nir Barak, the company's chief scientist. They include their flagship drug to control food intake in obese populations – the drug which has been approved for PHASE II trial. In addition, the company is developing a treatment to prevent weight gain as a side effect of certain anti-psychotic medications, as well as a drug that encourages appetite among patients suffering severe weight loss for a number of causes.