Local Participants Sought for Diet Drug Trial

Local participants are needed for a national trial for an experimental weight-loss drug meant to help individuals over 45 years old lose weight and improve cardiovascular health.

The manufacturer of Contrave is searching for 10,000 Americans to take part in the trial, including individuals in the Charleston area. South Carolina has one of the highest obesity rates in the nation and recent studies suggest the problem is worsening.

There are four clinical trial sites in the Charleston metro, including one in Mount Pleasant. Clinical Trial Sites in the Charleston area include the following:

• Dr. Cynthia Strout – Coastal Carolina Research Center (Mount Pleasant)
• Dr. Patrick O'Neill – Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston)
• Dr. Donald Hurley – Medical Research South (Charleston)
• Dr. Lars Runquist – PMG Research (Charleston)

In previous clinical trials that have enrolled over 4,500 people, the investigational medication has been shown to help people lose weight, keep it off for one year and improve measures of health and well being including losing inches from their waistlines, improving their cholesterol numbers, and making significant improvements in their blood sugar levels.

Not everyone will qualify to take part in the study, but financial compensation may be provided to individuals who are accepted into the study group. You may qualify to participate if you:

• Are a man 45 or old or a woman age 50 or older;
• Need to lose weight and
• Have heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes with certain heart risk factors.

There is no charge to take part in the study and health insurance is not necessary to participate. For more information, visit the drug maker's website.

Contrave is actually a combination of two drugs already one the market, Bupropion, often used to treat depression and to aid in smoking cessation, and naltrexone, a medication used in the treatment of substance abuse.