SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Orexigen®
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:
OREX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of
obesity, today announced financial results for the first quarter of
2011.  For the three months ended March 31, 2011, Orexigen
reported a net loss of $11.6 million, or $0.24 per share, as
compared to a net loss of $14.1 million, or $0.30 per share, for
the first quarter of 2010.  As of March 31, 2011, Orexigen had
$39.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and an additional $36.9
million in marketable securities, for a total of approximately
$76.6 million.

“Over the last several months, together with our partner,
Takeda, and our external advisors, we have been preparing for a
meeting with FDA to discuss a viable path forward for
Contrave®,” said Michael Narachi, president and CEO of
Orexigen. “We have submitted to the Agency a specific, innovative,
and robust proposal to assess cardiovascular risk and have
confirmed a meeting with the Agency later this quarter to discuss
our proposal.”

Total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2011 were
$13.3 million compared to $14.0 million for the first quarter of
2010. This decrease in operating expenses primarily reflects a
decrease in research and development expenses of $1.4 million
principally related to the reduction in costs incurred in
connection with the preparation for our NDA filing for Contrave in
the first quarter of 2011 as compared to same period in
2010. This overall decrease was partially offset by an
increase in general and administrative expenses principally related
to one-time corporate realignment costs.

Conference Call Today at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (5:00 a.m.
Pacific Time) The Orexigen management team will host a
teleconference and webcast to discuss the first quarter 2011
financial results and recent business highlights. The l

‘/>”/>

SOURCE