Memorandum
Today, Orexigen announced that the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Contrave (naltrexone/bupropion extended-release) monotherapy for weight management in adult patients with overweight or obesity. According to the press release, Orexigen has shipped an initial order of Contrave tablets to its South Korean partner Kwang Dong, which is estimated to have a combined value of ~$5.9 million to Orexigen. As a reminder, Orexigen executed a distributorship agreement with Kwang Dong last summer and Arena/Eisai’s Belviq (lorcaserin) was approved in South Korea early last year. After the separation from Takeda, we are glad to see Orexigen working with other partners to expand Contrave’s presence around the world though it was a bit surprising to see the focus in this region.