News VIVUS Investors Need to Watch

The obesity market continues to be one of the hottest therapeutic areas in health care today. Arena Pharmaceuticals  (Nasdaq: ARNA  ) will soon launch its weight loss drug, Belviq, and VIVUS' (Nasdaq: VVUS  ) drug Qsymia is already available to patients through the Qsymia Home Delivery Network. CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS  ) , Walgreen (NYSE: WAG  ) , and Express Scripts (Nasdaq: ESRX  ) are all part of the network, and patients currently receive their medication through the mail.

Today, VIVUS announced that it submitted a change to its Qsymia Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, that could soon see prescriptions of the drug filled in retail pharmacies, too. In the following video, health care analysts Max Macaluso and David Williamson discuss the potential benefits of having more distribution channels if this application is successful.

VIVUS' most direct competition in this space is Arena Pharmaceuticals. Both companies gained FDA approval for their respective drugs at around the same time, and, while the future looks bright for Arena, there are still plenty of obstacles ahead. In our premium research report on Arena Pharmaceuticals, we walk investors through the must know opportunities and threats facing the company. Click here now to learn more.