Fat pill nears final clinical trials

13 December 2004

An obesity drug invented by Monash University's Associate Professor Frank Ng has successfully passed the second phase of human clinical trials and is expected to head into the third and final testing stage next year.

Dr Ng has been working on the development of the human growth hormone to treat obesity for more than 15 years and says the development of the drug by Melbourne based company Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Limited could have significant global public health impacts.

"After such extensive pre-clinical trials I am pleased that an Australian invention has been picked up by an Australian company.

"I am delighted to see my scientific research being applied to the ever-growing problem of obesity."

The drug -- called AOD9604 -- stimulates the metabolism of body fat. It is the first of its kind in the world.

It was trialled on 300 obese patients for a period of 12 weeks with positive results, each patient prescribed a daily 1mg dose lost an average of 2.8 kilograms with no side effects detected.

For further information contact Associate Professor Frank Ng on 9905 3777 or Ms Ingrid Sanders in Media Communications on +61 3 9905 9201.