Obesity

PYY 3-36, one of the many flames along the runway of our cargo cult airport, will live on in 2007.

BOTHELL, Wash., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. (Nasdaq: NSTK) today reported positive results from a dose ranging study designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic parameters, appetite, food intake and safety of various doses of Nastech's proprietary PYY(3-36) nasal spray in obese subjects. The study identified doses for a long-term Phase 2 efficacy and safety clinical trial.

Now let's go back in time to see where PYY was in 2004.

86th Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society (ENDO 2004), New Orleans, LA,

Nasal Peptide YY3-36: Phase 1 Dose Ranging & Safety Studies in Healthy Human Subjects. Download Poster (PDF)

13th European Congress on Obesity, Prague, Czech Republic, May, 2004

Nasal Peptide YY 3-36: Phase 1 Dose Ranging and Safety Study in Healthy Human Subjects. Download Poster (PDF)

So we are back to a point that seemed to be established back in 2004. At that time Nastech was partnered up with Merck to advance PYY. In March of 2006 Merck pulled out of the collaboration after it decided data from a "Preliminary Proof of Concept Study" of the intra-nasal formulation of PYY didn't demonstrate efficacy. Merck didn't want to play The Beer and Pizza Diet so Nastech went back to a happier time, 2004.

From the NSTK website: To date, Nastech has completed three Phase I trials of PYY. These trials have enrolled over 60 subjects and administered in excess of 900 doses in the Nastech PYY program. Results from the PYY Phase I clinical trials indicate the investigational product is safe, well-tolerated and shows evidence of reducing caloric intake, moderating appetite and demonstrating weight loss in human subjects. Unless you ask Merck

Steven C. Quay, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, President and CEO of Nastech. "These results support a decision (#4 on The Five Dumbest Things On Wallstreet This Week by Colin Barr, 3/3/2006) to advance this program toward a long-term Phase 2 Weight Loss Clinical Trial. With obesity reaching epidemic levels worldwide, the need for a safe and effective product that promotes weight loss has become critically important."

Never ask a drug company CEO if there is a need for a safe and effective product that has become critically important. It's guarenteed that he/she's got one and it works.