Have you ever wished that you could take a pill that would kill everything good and enjoyable about life? Neither have we and that is why we were a bit skeptical about the success of a nasal spray that turns off your sense of smell and taste.
Dieters may find some welcome assistance from a new nasal spray that could help resist the appetizing aromas of cinnamon bun stands, pizza parlors or tempting bakeries.
Compellis Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Massachusetts said it will begin human trials next year of a nasal spray designed to fight obesity by blocking the senses of smell and taste. It won a patent for the product this month.
“The pleasurable effect of eating is all stimulated by smell and taste,” Christopher Adams, the company’s founder and chief executive, told Reuters on Tuesday.
“The premise is that olfactory activity that controls both smell and taste is a trigger and a feedback mechanism to eat. If you have some kind of reduced sense of smell or taste, you tend to eat less,” he said.
The product, known as CP404, is among the latest devices and treatments under development in the multibillion-dollar fight against obesity.
Adams said he would seek Food and Drug Administration approval in about three years after human trials begin in 2007. He also expects to tap the stock market to raise $25 million to $50 million in an initial public offering if human trials are successful, with the spray expected to hit the market in 2010.
The nasal spray treatment would retail at $500 to $1,000 a year.
The Obesity Action Coalition, a Tampa, Florida-based nonprofit organization, cautioned that any such spray should be accompanied by other treatments and a change in lifestyle to be effective.
“There are a lot of reasons why obesity exists, and it’s not always a case of food addiction,” said James Zervios, a spokesman for the coalition.
“People still need to eat. Every time they get hungry I don’t think they could just use the spray,” he said. “People need to be taught what are the better foods to eat — what’s high on protein, what’s low on fat.”
As far as bad ideas go, this ranks right up there with the orgasm-killing male contraceptive pill.
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Press Release . . .