VIVUS Earnings Report: 3 Critical Points to Watch

We're in the midst of earnings season, and this is a pivotal week for three of the major players in the obesity drug market. Tomorrow, pharmaceutical company VIVUS (Nasdaq: VVUS  ) will post its first quarterly earnings report since launching its obesity drug, Qsymia. This new therapeutic became available to patients in mid-September, and beat Arena Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: ARNA  ) rival drug Belviq to market.

Arena will also release its results tomorrow, and Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX  )  -- which is still developing its weight loss drug Contrave -- will post its third-quarter results on Wednesday.

In the following video, analyst Max Macaluso and health care bureau chief Brenton Flynn focus on VIVUS and discuss several issues investors should be tuning in for in tomorrow's conference call -- namely Qsymia sales projections, an update on VIVUS' plans to reapply for Qsymia's EU approval, and news regarding this drug's distribution.

Foolish Bottom Line

The ravages of America's obesity epidemic are a challenge of epic proportions. However, a group of drug companies is looking to change everything. Newly approved drugs, including one developed by Vivus, could help to reverse this deadly course while reaping massive profits for investors in the process. The profit opportunity is immense but plenty of risks still exist, so make sure you understand the full story behind Vivus in the Fool's brand new premium research service. It's a story so important we have our top health care writer on the job, so make sure to secure a copy today by clicking here now.