Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) Monday said data from phase 3 clinical trials of its obesity drug BELVIQ (lorcaserin HCl) will be presented at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy meeting taking place through Wednesday of this week. BELVIQ is a U.S.-approved serotonin for treatment of obesity in conjunction with diet and exercise. The phase 3 trials are testing BELVIQ on pre-diabetic patients. ARNA said BELVIQ is believed to decrease food consumption and promote satiety by activating serotonin receptors in the brain. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) trades in a 52-week range of $3.59 to $7.97; the low end of that range was hit in Friday's regular session.Lipocine Inc (NASDAQ:LPCN), a specialty pharmaceutical company, Monday released encouraging top-line results from a Phase 2a clinical study of LPCN 1111, a testosterone-replacement therapy candidate, in hypogonadal males. The primary objective of the study was to determine the feasibility of once daily dosing of LPCN 1111 in hypogonadal males and the company said the results demonstrated the feasibility of a once-daily dosing with LPCN 1111 in hypogonadal men and a good dose response.The study also confirmed that steady state is achieved by day 14 with consistent interday performance observed on day 14, 21 and 28. No subjects exceeded peak serum testosterone concentration of 1500 ng/dL during the 28-day dosing period on multi-dose exposure. Overall, LPCN 1111 was well-tolerated with no serious adverse events. Based on the results, a Phase 2b study is planned to begin in Q1 2015 with the objective of determining the optimal once-daily dosing regimen of LPCN 1111, the company added. Shares of Lipocine Inc (NASDAQ:LPCN) closed Friday at $4.80, within a 52-week range of $4.70 to $10.35. The low end of their 52-week range was set Friday.Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported encouraging Phase 1 data Monday for its CTP-354, a once-daily oral treatment for spasticity, or the increased and involuntary rigidity in muscles that restricts movement. The company said in this multiple ascending dose trial, no sedation or ataxia was observed with CTP-354 and the drug was generally well-tolerated across all dose cohorts. Data from the trial also showed CTP-354 can achieve high plasma levels without causing side effects such as sedation and ataxia, or the lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements. It noted those two side effects currently limit the broader use of other GABAA receptor modulators such as benzodiazepines."CTP-354 also demonstrated highly favorable pharmacokinetics with low variability, dose-proportional exposure, a long half-life in the body and high levels of GABAA receptor occupancy," the company said, adding it believes these results support once-daily dosing, versus the three-times-daily dosing required by current standard-of-care oral spasticity medicines. CNCE expects to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating CTP-354 in patients with spasticity associated with spinal cord injury by the end of 2014. Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE) shares closed Friday at $12.42, within a 52-week range of $7.12 to $16.26.
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