'Contrave' a new weight-loss drug shows promise

Patients taking an investigational weight-loss drug called Contrave lost an average of more than 7 percent of their weight in the first 24 weeks of a phase III clinical trial, according to interim findings released this week by the company that developed the drug.

The study was expected to continue for another 24 weeks.

Contrave is a combination of two drugs - naltrexone (already used to treat opium addiction withdrawal) and bupropion (used to treat depression and to help people quit smoking). Contrave is intended to affect a person's craving for food and the body's regulation of energy.

"Contrave is designed to activate a hypothalmic center in the brain associated with reduced appetite, while blocking beta-endorphin, which may be responsible for limiting weight loss," Dr. Gary Tollefson, president and CEO of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., said in a prepared statement. "We are also studying the effects of Contrave on related central pathways associated with the rewarding nature of select high-calorie foods."


Technorati Tags: contrave, weight-loss

Zune Player is likely to be launched in November

Microsoft Corp.'s Zune music player looks a lot like an iPod, acts a lot like an iPod and will cost about the same as an iPod. The software giant said Thursday that it will charge $249.99 for the device, signaling that it isn't planning to spark a major price war to gain market share.

"It's not going to be price that really drives people to Zune," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Jupiter Research.

Instead, the company is hoping to gain an edge by promoting two features Apple Computer Inc. doesn't offer on its iPod: a subscription music service, and the ability to share music with other Zune users through a wireless connection.

Microsoft plans to debut the portable music player and its companion online music service on Nov. 14 in the United States, just ahead of the holiday gift-buying rush.

The music service will let people buy songs individually for about 99 cents, the same price Apple charges for songs from its popular iTunes Music Store.

So let's join the Zune revolution...

Technorati Tags: zune, zune player

Ozone layer 20 percent thinner over Arctic last winter

The ozone layer over the Arctic thinned out by 20 percent during January this year, a smaller loss than during eight of the last 11 winters, United Nations climate experts said.

"Chemical reactions triggered a 20 percent loss in the ozone layer over the Arctic in January 2006 - a reduction exacerbated by colder stratospheric temperatures during that month," the WMO said in statement.

The agency added that since the winter of 1993-1994, eight winters had seen more severe ozone loss over the Arctic than this year and on three occasions the loss had been less.

Technorati Tags: climate change, environment, global warming